State Rep. Derrick Jackson will launch his campaign for governor Friday with a focus on his combined experience in politics, the military and corporate America.
Jackson, a Democrat who currently represents a district in south metro Atlanta, says his resume sets him apart from candidates in both parties with higher name recognition running for Georgia’s top job.
“Twenty-two years in the military, military officer, 10 years in corporate America and serving in my fifth term under the Gold Dome,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So, when you collectively look at 42 years of experience, we don’t have both Democratic and Republican (candidates) with that kind of resume.”
Jackson, who lives in Tyrone, was first elected to the state House in 2016. He is a U.S. Navy veteran who worked as a marketing executive with General Electric after leaving the service.
He ran for lieutenant governor in 2022, finishing sixth in the Democratic primary. Jackson returned to the Legislature in 2023 after winning a seat that became vacant after the death of state Rep. Tish Naghise.
In 2024, he filed legislation in hopes of removing then-candidate Donald Trump’s name from the presidential ballot. That effort went nowhere.
Later that year, Jackson lobbied to become House minority leader but lost to Rep. Carolyn Hugley.
He said his blended family of seven children, all adults, has provided insight of what Georgians need to succeed and thrive. His campaign will focus on Georgia families and improving their quality of life on issues ranging from protecting access to abortion to providing resources for farmers.
And he said his decades of work experience and political service set his campaign apart from others like Stacey Abrams, who he called out by name as “swooping in every four years” to run for the state’s top job.
Abrams has not said whether she plans to run for governor again in 2026. She lost to Gov. Brian Kemp both in 2018 and 2022.
“I will appreciate Stacey if she wants to continue to do her book tour,” he said. “But we don’t need someone swooping in every four years to try to play savior, because families in Georgia — urban, suburban and rural — do not have the luxury to show up every four years. They want a governor who is going to show up each and every day.”
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and Olu Brown, the former pastor of Impact Church in Atlanta, are the other Democrats who have launched campaigns for governor.
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