Politics

Leading GOP Candidate In Georgia Governor’s Race Sues Trump-Backed Opponent For Defamation

Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour

Billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson on Monday filed a defamation lawsuit against Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, his Republican primary opponent in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race.

The lawsuit alleges that Jones, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race, made three separate “defamatory” statements about Jackson on social media this past week. The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County this morning, according to Jackson’s campaign.

“Burt Jones is learning real fast that the days of him doing and saying anything for his own benefit are coming to an end,” Jackson campaign spokesman Dave Abrams said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday. “Rick Jackson is holding self-serving politician Burt Jones accountable for his words and his actions.”

Jackson alleged in part of the complaint that “rather than standing on his record, fighting like an honest man, and earning the trust and support of Georgians, Burt Jones is resorting to what he knows best: cheap and dirty politics.”

“Rick Jackson’s thin skin is showing,” Kayla Lott, a spokesperson for Jones’ campaign, told the DCNF in a statement on Monday. “Why is Rick so embarrassed to have received a billion dollars in state contracts, helped Planned Parenthood recruit, and staff a pediatric doctor’s office that serves ‘transgender patients.’ He should be proud Georgia knows how his company made its money.”

Jones claimed in a March 5 X post that Jackson “made his fortune recruiting for Planned Parenthood, helping doctors perform transgender procedures on minors, and pocketed over $1 billion in state contracts on the backs of Georgia taxpayers,” adding “Georgia’s not for sale.”

Following Jackson’s relatively late campaign launch on Feb. 3, he has spent out almost $16 million on ads, nearly six times as much as Jones, NBC news reported, citing data from AdImpact.

A JMC Analytics and Polling survey of likely GOP primary voters released Monday found that 37% of voters would support Jackson, while 22% said they would back Jones. A Quantus Insights poll conducted in February found that 32.6% of likely voters would support Jackson in the Georgia Republican primary for governor, while 16.9% would back Jones.

However, an Emerson College poll released March 5 showed a closer race between the two GOP gubernatorial frontrunners —  finding that 21% of voters would support Jones in the GOP primary for Georgia governor, compared to Jackson’s 20%. Meanwhile, 11% of respondents said they would support Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — known for clashing with Trump over the 2o2o presidential election — while 6% said the same about Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and 38% were undecided, according to the survey.

The recent Emerson College poll also shows the Trump-backed Jones garnering 31% of support from respondents who said that the president’s endorsement makes them more likely to back a candidate, while Jackson secured 21% support.

Per Georgia law, if no candidate receives 50% of the vote in the May 19 primary, the top two finishers will head to a June 16 runoff.

In February, Jackson and his gubernatorial campaign committee filed a lawsuit against Jones over a state campaign finance law which Jackson claimed granted Jones an unfair edge in this year’s Republican primary for Georgia govern, CBS News reported.

Additionally, Jackson’s companies have notably received almost $1 billion in payments from state agencies in Georgia since fiscal year 2020, WABE reported on March 2, citing a Healthbeat analysis of government records.