Georgia’s ‘foster care to billionaire’ GOP gubernatorial candidate calls his fortune ‘God’s money’ while spending $200 million on his campaign
Source: Fortune ·
“I have lived in poverty,” Jackson says. “When you have not eaten, you never forget that, and you don’t forget the people that are struggling.”
From the source
He’s hardly the first billionaire to promise working-class voters he’ll fight for them in public office. Rick Jackson, the Republican candidate for Georgia governor, has even compared himself to the real estate mogul who reached the Oval Office. But Jackson’s path differs from Donald Trump’s, and the 72-year-old healthcare magnate and investor brings a vastly different persona to his first campaign. Unlike Trump, who was born to wealth, Jackson spent his early years bouncing through foster homes before launching his first company as a young man. Now, he wants to leverage both his similarities and contrasts with the president, a challenge he’s tackling with buckets of his own campaign cash and a personal story that anchors his appeal to voters. “I have lived in poverty,” Jackson says. “When you have not eaten, you never forget that, and you don’t forget the people that are struggling.” Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, disputes Jackson’s altruistic…