Rick Jackson’s next challenge: Winning over Republicans

But the days after his victory also exposed a deeper question confronting Republicans: Can a wealthy outsider who beat the favorite of some of the party’s most dedicated activists now persuade them to fight for him in November?

That question was front-and-center at the Georgia GOP’s post-runoff unity rally, a rodeo fundraiser in Perry where U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins and other statewide contenders worked the crowd. Jackson’s absence was hard to miss.

The race was so personal that some Republicans worry the usual post-runoff calls for unity may not be enough. Even as other party leaders lined up behind Jackson, Jones has remained conspicuously neutral, and some of his supporters remain openly skeptical.

“If he wants the grassroots back, he will have to do what current leadership refuses to do: listen to the conservatives this party has alienated and give them a seat at the table,” said Kylie Jane Kremer, an activist who backed Jones. “Unity cannot be demanded. It has to be earned.”

Their rivalry went far beyond the normal mudslinging and name-calling of a campaign for governor. Even seasoned Georgia political operatives struggle to recall another statewide primary that became this personal, expensive and legally fraught.

The two remain locked in dueling defamation lawsuits that could keep them battling through the election. Jones’ allies are also still smarting over a $19 million ad blitz from a shadowy group that spent months attacking him. Jackson has repeatedly said he did not pay for the group, but the barrage helped soften the ground for his campaign.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Perhaps the clearest sign the rift hasn’t healed: Jones has not endorsed Jackson, nor has he been asked to do so. The lieutenant governor sounds ready to put politics behind him entirely.

“You know, we’re moving on to the next chapter of life,” Jones said. “Life goes on, and there’s a life after politics, no question about it.”

A new test

Jackson may have little reason to doubt his strategy. Four months ago, most Republican voters had never heard of him. Today, he’s the GOP nominee for governor.

He overcame grassroots resistance with a campaign fueled by money, organization and a message that persuaded enough Republicans to reject a candidate backed by the two most popular Republicans in Georgia: term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp and Trump.

This week, Jackson rolled out a new round of endorsements showcasing support from other Republican leaders, including Kemp, former Gov. Nathan Deal and former Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Trump has also embraced Jackson, who made a pre-runoff pitch to him at a fundraiser last week at Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia. The president wrote in a social media post that Jackson “ran a great TRUMP Campaign. Very smart!”

Jay Morgan, a former Georgia GOP executive director, said the coalition “bodes well for all wings of the party to fly together to victory in November.”

But a general election poses a different test. In November, Jackson will need those same activists to support him while also appealing to the independent and swing voters who have helped decide Georgia’s last four statewide elections.

Jackson is trying to win over conservative skeptics with a pledge to cut the income tax by half and freeze property taxes in his first term. At the same time, he is likely to move away from some of the harder-edged themes of the primary, including his warning that immigrants living in Georgia illegally would be “deported or departed.”

Even before he won the nomination, Jackson had begun emphasizing his upbringing in foster care and sharpening his attacks against Bottoms.

Credit: Riley Bunch

Credit: Riley Bunch

“Keisha Lance Bottoms represents the failed past,” Jackson said: “We will continue the foundation laid by Georgia’s Republican governors. She will make excuses. We will deliver results.”

Some Republicans expect Jackson’s GOP skeptics to put down their guard and rally behind the nominee.

“As a general rule, Republicans will be sore for a few weeks, but at the end of the day they tend to come together,” said Paulding County GOP chair Ricky Hess. “There are always outliers. Some are saying they aren’t going to vote at all. But that’s going to change.”

Others are less certain. Alex Johnson, a leader of the far-right Georgia Republican Assembly, said Jackson’s runoff win doesn’t automatically earn the “unquestioning loyalty” from the party faithful.

“Now he has the opportunity to prove that the money bought communication, not control,” he said. “He can prove that he sought the Republican nomination because he believes in Republican principles, not merely because it offered the most practical path to the governor’s office.”