ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — When Republican nominee Rick Jackson and Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms step onto the debate stage Tuesday for the Atlanta News First town hall, Georgia voters will see one of the sharpest contrasts in modern state political history.

The race to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp features two candidates whose personal narratives are rooted in Atlanta, but whose paths through public life, business, and governance could not be more different.

BOTTOMS, JACKSON TOWN HALL DEBATE: How to watch on Atlanta News First

One is an entrepreneur who grew up in the foster care system before building a multi-billion-dollar health care staffing empire. The other is a former city council member, municipal judge, and big-city mayor who steered Georgia’s capital through unprecedented crises before serving in the White House.

With polls showing the race in a virtual dead heat, here is a look at the careers, milestones, and platforms that brought both candidates to this political moment.

Jackson: From foster care to billionaire

Jackson’s central pillar of his political identity is his rise from childhood hardship to the peak of corporate success.

Jackson spent much of his childhood moving through Georgia’s foster care system, an experience he has frequently cited on the campaign trail to illustrate resilience, self-reliance, and an understanding of families who feel overlooked by government institutions.

After aging out of the system, Jackson worked odd jobs before entering the health care staffing sector in the late 1970s. Over several decades, he founded and expanded Jackson Healthcare into one of the nation’s largest health care staffing and technology conglomerates, providing physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals to thousands of hospitals and health systems nationwide.

Beyond business, Jackson established extensive philanthropic initiatives focused on foster care reform, adoption services, and access to pediatric specialty care.

Though a longtime donor and advisor in conservative political circles, Jackson’s run for governor marks his first bid for public office. He captured the Republican nomination after emerging from a contentious GOP primary and defeating Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a bitter summer runoff.

Positioning himself as a political outsider and business problem-solver, Jackson’s general election platform centers on fiscal conservatism and affordability.

His core proposals include:

• Phasing out Georgia’s state personal income tax.
• Freezing and capping local residential property taxes.
• Applying private-sector market reforms to lower health care costs.
• Expanding vocational training, workforce development, and foster care support programs statewide.

Bottoms: Mayor and White House advisor

Bottoms brings more than two decades of public-sector, legal, and executive governance experience to the Democratic ticket.

Raised in southwest Atlanta, Bottoms is the daughter of Sylvia Robinson and singer-songwriter Major Lance. She earned her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University and her law degree from Georgia State University College of Law, beginning her career as a prosecutor, private attorney and Fulton County State Court special master.

Bottoms entered politics in 2009, winning a seat on the Atlanta City Council representing District 11. During her two terms, she chaired the council’s public safety committee and pushed legislation addressing city employee pension reform and community reinvestment.

In 2017, Bottoms was elected the 60th mayor of Atlanta, narrowly winning a competitive runoff by 821 votes over Mary Norwood.

Her tenure as mayor (2018–2022) coincided with some of the most tumultuous periods in modern city history, including:

• Managing a massive citywide municipal ransomware cyberattack in 2018.
• Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, where she frequently clashed with state officials over municipal masking and business restrictions.
• Leading the city through the summer 2020 racial justice protests and unrest following the death of George Floyd and the fatal police shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
• Overhauling municipal ethics policies, eliminating cash bail for low-level nonviolent offenses, and ending the city jail’s contract to hold ICE detainees.

After choosing not to seek a second mayoral term, Bottoms joined President Joe Biden’s administration in 2022 as senior advisor for public engagement, serving as a White House liaison to state and local leaders, civil rights organizations, and labor unions.

She entered the 2026 gubernatorial contest as the consensus Democratic frontrunner, securing the party’s nomination without a primary runoff.

Bottoms has anchored her campaign on executive leadership, public education investments, and health care access, pitching herself as a champion for working-class Georgians.

Her core priorities include:

• Expanding access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to support struggling rural hospitals.
• Increasing state funding for public school classrooms, early childhood education, and teacher salaries.
• Protecting reproductive rights and opposing further state abortion restrictions.
• Expanding affordable housing initiatives and strengthening community-based public safety programs.

The stakes on Tuesday

Recent statewide surveys show Jackson and Bottoms locked within the margin of error, with independent and suburban voters poised to decide the outcome.

While Jackson presents his business background as proof he can rein in state spending and stimulate private growth, Bottoms points to her executive track record managing large-scale public institutions, municipal budgets, and civic emergencies.

How to watch the debate

The gubernatorial town hall debate will air live on Atlanta News First and on Gray Media stations across Georgia. You can watch it on WANF (channel 46) in metro Atlanta and north Georgia; WTOC in Savannah; WPGA in Macon; WRDW in Augusta; WALB in Albany; and WTVM in Columbus. The debate will also be available to stream live and on-demand. Simply download our station news app on your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV or your smart TV devices.

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.

Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.