Georgia Democrats to launch tour against Burt Jones, Rick Jackson in Columbus
Elected representatives from Muscogee County are scheduled to speak during a news conference Monday in Columbus as the Democratic Party of Georgia launches a tour accusing Republican gubernatorial candidates of “self-enrichment.”
State Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus), the Georgia House of Representatives minority leader, and state Rep. Teddy Reese (D-Columbus) are expected to join other community leaders and the Muscogee County Democratic Committee during the news conference 10 a..m. Monday at the MCDC headquarters.
Reese won the Democratic primary for the Georgia state Senate District 15 seat during the May 19 election. He will face Republican Charles Herbert Hand III, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
The “Out for Themselves Tour” also is scheduled to stop in Savannah, Macon and Atlanta.
Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary May 19 for her party’s nomination to be governor, while Jones and Jackson are heading into a runoff.
Democrats are criticizing Jones for his involvement in a data center project in Butts County, according to a news release. Critics accuse Jones of changing the law to allow a 450,000-square-foot hospital to be built there, along with 11 million square feet of data centers.
Jones campaign spokesperson Kayla Lott said the issue was a “simple rezoning application by a private company,” according to the Georgia Recorder.
Jones was also accused of killing the bills of Republicans who supported his opponents, according to the news release.
Georgia Democratic leaders accuse Jackson of receiving no-bid contracts from the state, with Jackson Healthcare receiving more than $1 billion in payments from state agencies, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Democrats shared Burt Jones’ attack ad alleging Jackson’s company, Jackson Healthcare, defrauded seniors by scamming Medicare.
“The Democrats are making up attacks because they know Keisha Lance Bottoms was a disastrous mayor of Atlanta whose record will be exposed in the general election,” Jackson campaign spokesperson Mike Schrimpf told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Friday. “Jackson Healthcare didn’t even bill Medicare and follows the law, just like it did when helping to save thousands of Georgia lives during COVID at a reduced cost to taxpayers.”
Jackson Healthcare could have sent doctors and nurses to New York and made more money, Schrimpf said, but they mobilized thousands of healthcare professionals in Georgia instead.
The Ledger-Enquirer reached out to Jones’ campaign but did not receive a response before publication.
