“Mutually Assured Destruction”: Atlanta Journal-Constitution Goes In-Depth on Georgia’s “Slugfest” GOP Gov Primary

"Mutually Assured Destruction": Atlanta Journal-Constitution Goes In-Depth on Georgia's "Slugfest" GOP Gov Primary

A new column from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at how Georgia's Republican gubernatorial primary has devolved into a "battle of bottomless bank accounts" that is "veering toward mutually assured destruction."

Georgia voters are facing "a daily, almost hourly deluge of negative TV ads, mailers and billboards" from the Republican candidates, and "avoiding the sludge will be almost impossible" for voters. Georgians "want to hear what the candidates are for, not just who they're against," but the AJC says "that's not coming through for most Georgians right now." Republicans are in "danger" as they fail to get their message out, and the "campaigns seem hell-bent on destroying each other - even if it kills them both."

As the AJC notes, "nobody wins" from a primary this vicious.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Rick Jackson-Burt Jones slugfest: half-truths, whoppers and a lot of B.S.

KEY EXCERPTS:

• What do you get when you cross a billionaire with a millionaire in the Georgia GOP primary for governor? In 2026, you get a daily, almost hourly deluge of negative TV ads, mailers and billboards from billionaire first-time candidate Rick Jackson and millionaire Burt Jones - the lieutenant governor who looked like Republicans' presumptive nominee for governor until Jackson unexpectedly jumped into the race.

• Avoiding the sludge will be almost impossible for Georgia voters, with nearly $90 million in ads reserved between the two campaigns through the May primary. Sorting out what's true from what's not may be the best a Georgian can hope for until the storm passes.

• In the last week, Jackson has continued his onslaught of ads against Jones accusing him of self-dealing, while Jones has called Jackson a "false prophet" and posed with a literal bottle of "B.S." in South Georgia, saying he had finally figured out what Jackson is selling with his campaign.

• "I want y'all to look at that right here, it's pure, 100%, right here what it says right here," Jones said, pointing to the bottle of steak seasoning, whose name we can't publish, other than to say it was sourced from a place called "Big Cock Ranch."

• The "B.S." that Jones is referring to is a hurricane of attack ads from Jackson that accuse Jones of pushing for state laws or regulations from his roles at the Capitol that would benefit his family businesses around the state.

• But the danger for them, and for Republicans in general, is that, regardless of what is true and what isn't, the Jackson and Jones campaigns seem hell-bent on destroying each other - even if it kills them both.

• Voters I talk to want to hear what the candidates are for, not just who they're against. But that's not coming through for most Georgians right now.

• Instead, in the battle of bottomless bank accounts, the arms race of negative ads between Jackson and Jones is veering toward mutually assured destruction. If you've ever studied history, you know nobody wins in that scenario. And that's the truth.

###