2026-06-16T09:00:09.009Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
佐治亚州副州长伯特·琼斯正在批评其共和党州长提名决选对手、亿万富翁里克·杰克逊创纪录的竞选开支。
杰克逊在本周二选举前已自掏腰包花费超过1亿美元。
获胜者将在11月的州长大选对阵民主党人凯莎·兰斯·巴恩斯。
佐治亚州副州长伯特·琼斯在共和党州长提名竞争激烈的最后冲刺阶段，批评对手里克·杰克逊的竞选开支打破了该州纪录。
“里克·杰克逊无处不在——花费超过1亿美元试图收买我们的选票，”琼斯竞选团队的一则新广告说道，广告中配有选民对杰克逊无处不在的形象感到反感的AI生成画面。“但佐治亚州不是商品。”
杰克逊曾是一名医疗行业高管，他利用个人财富投身竞选，花费数千万美元投放广告和直邮宣传材料，让自己出现在选民面前。这足以让他在5月的初选中获得约三分之一的选票，迫使本周二与琼斯进行决选，以确定谁将在11月对阵民主党前亚特兰大市长凯莎·兰斯·巴恩斯。
但杰克逊能否说服佐治亚州共和党选民支持他对抗特朗普总统选定的候选人琼斯，目前尚不明朗——本周二的选举将成为最新一次考验，在美国民众最关注经济负担能力的当下，亿万富翁和百万富翁政治 outsiders能否将他们的商业专长转化为选举胜利。
杰克逊用白手起家的故事回应外界对其财富的质疑：他成长于极度贫困的家庭，父母婚姻破裂，辗转多个寄养家庭，后来离家出走并开启了成功的商业生涯。尽管他承认“人们对我的竞选开支有合理担忧”，但杰克逊辩称“金钱买不来这场选举，我必须靠努力赢得它”。
“问题在于，你想要的是那些通过特殊利益集团、捐赠者等方式收买他人的金钱？还是那些为了改变现状而花费血汗钱的人？因为我不会被收买，”杰克逊在接受ABC附属机构WJCL采访时说道。
在上个月的共和党初选中，杰克逊仅以6个百分点的差距落后于琼斯，击败了佐治亚州知名官员，包括州务卿布拉德·拉芬斯珀格和州检察长克里斯·卡尔——对于这位今年2月才宣布参选的候选人而言，这是一次引人注目的表现。
“他从知名度为零，到在初选中获得三分之一的选票，”佐治亚大学政治学教授查尔斯·布洛克说道。
据追踪公司AdImpact的数据，在本周末前，杰克逊已为竞选活动投入超过1亿美元，成为2026年选举周期中第二大广告投放者，在广告上花费9000万美元，打破了佐治亚州州长竞选的纪录。AdImpact的数据显示，这催生了超过380个独特广告，总曝光量超过4.5亿次。
琼斯是一位百万富翁，其家族在石油行业取得成功，他也为竞选开支的飙升做出了贡献。他向自己的竞选团队贷款2500万美元，在广告上的花费超过3500万美元——在本届选举周期的个人候选人中排名第三。
这位州官员 heavily relied on Trump’s endorsement, 本周与总统举行了电话集会。“你们出来为伯特投票非常重要，他从一开始就站在我这边，”特朗普在电话中说道。
同样，杰克逊也试图利用自己的资金优势，在宣布竞选州长一个多月前，向支持特朗普的超级政治行动委员会MAGA Inc.捐赠了100万美元——尽管特朗普去年就已背书琼斯。
布洛克警告称，“对于许多自掏腰包的富裕候选人来说，结果并不理想”，他回忆起前参议员凯利·卢夫勒在2021年的高调决选失利，当时她上任仅一年。他还援引了盖伊·米纳尔的例子，这位百万富翁商人曾两次竞选州长、一次竞选联邦参议员，均以失败告终。
“历史表明，在佐治亚州很难完成这种转变——也许杰克逊的解释是，他愿意比他们花更多的钱，”布洛克说道。
在给CNN的一份声明中，杰克逊的竞选团队表示：“当你像里克那样成长时，你永远不会忘记那些仍在挣扎的人。里克将为所有1100万佐治亚人而战，让佐治亚州成为全美生活成本最低的州。”
该团队还驳斥了琼斯竞选团队针对杰克逊开支的新广告：“这股味道就像一场知道自己即将失败的竞选。”
尽管琼斯和杰克逊在共和党州长决选中不断投入巨额资金，但巴恩斯上个月在竞争激烈的民主党初选中直接赢得了提名。
这位前亚特兰大市长、曾在拜登政府任职的官员得以毫无阻碍地巩固支持，并开始其大选竞选活动，与民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫搭档，后者今年也面临激烈的连任竞选。
民主党人将这场旷日持久的共和党决选视为重大优势，无论最终出现哪位对手，都会身心俱疲、元气大伤。
“我们已经准备好迎战从共和党决选混战中走出的那位脱离实际的特朗普跟班。无论是杰克逊还是琼斯，两位候选人在过去四个月里都在互相攻击，谈论的都是与民众切身利益无关的事情，而凯莎则一直专注于降低生活成本、为佐治亚人创造机会，”巴恩斯的通讯主管塔尼莎·卡梅伦说道。
不过，杰克逊持续为竞选活动提供资金的能力仍是一个未知数，他最初承诺投入5000万美元，后来又上调了预算预期。
“我会不惜一切代价赢得这场竞选，”他在本月早些时候发布的一则广告中说道。
自掏腰包候选人的成败参半
但仅凭金钱能否扭转局势尚不清楚，近年来多场耗资巨大的自掏腰包竞选已经证明了这一点。
“自掏腰包竞选可以提高知名度，但不一定能买到选票，”透明度组织“开放记录”的执行主任希拉里·布拉塞特说道。“历史表明，即使投入巨额个人资金也不能保证在选举中获胜。”
佐治亚州决选前几周就有几个例子。
在加利福尼亚州，亿万富翁汤姆·施泰尔——一位前对冲基金创始人兼民主党活动家——为州长竞选花费了超过2亿美元，尽管动用了所有可能的财务优势——不间断的电视广告、网红合作、广告牌和移动广告，最终仍以失败告终。
这让人想起另一场代价高昂的失利：施泰尔2020年首次参选民主党总统候选人的徒劳之举，花费超过3亿美元却未能获得任何代表票。不过，他在此次竞选的投入被前纽约市长迈克尔·布隆伯格的开支盖过，后者在约100天的竞选活动中自掏腰包花费了超过10亿美元。
在地方选举中，进步人士赛卡特·查克拉巴蒂在加利福尼亚州第11国会选区的开支远超对手，但这位前Stripe工程师最终在初选中排名第三。而在佐治亚州本土，美国众议员巴迪·卡特上个月的参议院竞选失利，尽管自掏腰包投入了数百万美元，仍未能进入共和党决选。
在民众最关注经济负担能力的当下，超级富豪候选人的密集竞选活动也可能疏远他们不惜重金争取的选民群体。
“我们的数据显示，选民越来越怀疑自掏腰包的超级富豪候选人。2024年，在自掏腰包超过100万美元的65名联邦候选人中，仅有10人获胜，”布拉塞特说道。
但其他超级富豪候选人如杰克逊则希望取得更好的结果。2024年总统候选人、亿万富翁生物技术企业家维韦克·拉马斯瓦米成为俄亥俄州州长共和党候选人，为竞选活动投入了2500万美元；而伊利诺伊州民主党州长JB·普利茨克——知名家族财富继承人——同样自掏腰包2500万美元，寻求连任第三届州长。
此外，本月晚些时候将迎来另一场考验：前众议员大卫·特龙——Total Wine & More的创始人——在马里兰州第6选区挑战现任众议员阿普里尔·麦克莱恩·德拉尼，争夺其旧席位，这位商界巨头在这个安全的民主党选区的广告开支合计接近2000万美元。
Burt Jones makes Rick Jackson’s big spending his closing argument in Georgia gubernatorial runoff
2026-06-16T09:00:09.009Z / CNN
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is criticizing billionaire rival Rick Jackson’s record campaign spending in their GOP gubernatorial runoff.
Jackson has spent over $100 million of his personal fortune in the lead up to Tuesday’s election.
The winner will face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in November’s general election for governor.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is criticizing rival Rick Jackson’s campaign spending as the billionaire breaks state records in the final stretch of a tight runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
“Rick Jackson is everywhere – spending over $100 million trying to buy our vote,” says a new ad from Jones’ campaign, featuring AI-generated imagery of voters recoiling at Jackson’s omnipresent image. “But Georgia is not for sale.”
Jackson, a former healthcare executive, has leveraged his personal fortune to elbow into the race, dropping tens of millions of dollars on ads and mailers to place himself in front of voters. It was enough to garner him roughly a third of the vote in the primary in May, forcing Tuesday’s runoff with Jones to decide who will face Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic former mayor of Atlanta, in November.
But whether Jackson can convince Georgia’s Republican voters to back him against Jones, President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate in the race, remains unclear — with Tuesday’s election offering the latest test of whether multimillionaire and billionaire political outsiders can translate their business expertise into ballot box victories at a time when affordability is top of mind for many Americans.
Jackson deflects questions about his wealth with a rags-to-riches story – growing up in deep poverty, the child of a broken marriage cycling through foster homes, running away and starting a successful business career. And while he’s acknowledged “legitimate concern” about his campaign spending, Jackson argues that “money cannot buy this election, I’m gonna have to earn it.”
“The question is, do you want money that’s been buying other people, through special interest groups, and donors, and so forth? Or somebody that’s spending hard-earned money in order to make a difference? Because I can’t be bought,” Jackson told ABC affiliate WJCL.
Jackson finished just 6 points behind Jones in the first round of the GOP primary last month, beating out well-known Georgia officials like Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr — a remarkable showing for a candidate who only entered the race in February.
“He’s gone from 0% name recognition to, he got a third of the vote in the primary,” said Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia.
Entering the weekend, Jackson had given his campaign more than $100 million and ranked as the second-biggest advertiser of the 2026 election cycle, breaking Georgia gubernatorial campaign records while spending $90 million on advertising, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. That’s produced more than 380 unique ads, per AdImpact data, generating more than 450 million impressions.
Jones, a multimillionaire whose family found success in the petroleum industry, has also contributed to spiraling totals. He’s loaned his campaign $25 million and has spent more than $35 million on advertising – ranking him third among individual candidates so far this cycle.
The state official has leaned heavily on Trump’s endorsement, holding a tele-rally with the president this week. “It’s very important you get out and vote for Burt. He’s been with me from the very beginning,” Trump said on the call.
Here, too, Jackson has tried to leverage his money, donating $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. a little over a month before he launched his governor campaign — even though the president had already endorsed Jones last year.
Bullock cautions that it “hasn’t worked out well” for many wealthy, self-funding candidates in Georgia, recalling former Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s high-profile runoff loss in 2021 a year after her appointment to the seat. He also pointed to the example of Guy Millner, a multimillionaire businessman who ran twice for governor and once for US senator as a Republican in the 1990s, losing all three races.
“History has not been that you can make that transition in Georgia – maybe the explanation for Jackson is he’s willing to spend even more than they were,” Bullock said.
In a statement to CNN, Jackson’s campaign said that “when you grow up the way Rick did, you never forget those who are still fighting. Rick will fight for all 11 million Georgians and make Georgia the most affordable state in the nation.”
And it dismissed the new ad from Jones’ campaign targeting Jackson’s spending: “reeks of a campaign that knows it is losing.”
While Jones and Jackson continue to rack up massive spending in the Republican gubernatorial runoff, Bottoms won the Democratic nomination outright in a crowded primary field last month.
The former Atlanta mayor turned Biden administration official has had a free hand to consolidate her support and begin her general election campaign, partnering with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who faces his own competitive reelection this year.
Democrats view the prolonged GOP runoff as a meaningful advantage, leaving whichever potential rival that emerges bruised and drained.
“We’re ready to face whichever out-of-touch Trump lackey emerges from the slugfest of a Republican runoff. Whether it’s Jackson or Jones, both candidates have spent the last four months beating each other up and talking about everything but the kitchen-table issues, while Keisha has relentlessly focused on lowering costs and creating opportunity for Georgians,” said TaNisha Cameron, Bottoms’ communications director.
Jackson’s ability to continue funding his campaign is a wild card, though, and after initially committing $50 million to the election, he’s since revised estimates upward.
“I’ll spend whatever it takes to win this race,” he says in an ad launched last month.
A mixed record for self-funded candidates
But it’s unclear whether money alone can move the needle, as several expensive self-funded campaigns in recent years have demonstrated.
“Self-funding a campaign can buy visibility, but it doesn’t necessarily buy votes,” said Hilary Braseth, the executive director of transparency organization Open Secrets. “History shows that even massive personal investments don’t guarantee success at the ballot box.”
A few examples played out in the weeks leading up to the Georgia runoff.
In California, billionaire Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund founder turned Democratic activist, spent more than $200 million on a gubernatorial campaign that failed despite pressing every possible financial advantage – nonstop TV spots, influencer partnerships, billboards and mobile advertisements.
It carried echoes of another costly miss: Steyer’s quixotic run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination as a first-time candidate, costing more than $300 million and failing to produce a single delegate. Steyer’s commitment in that race, however, was overshadowed by that of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent more than $1 billion of his own money on a roughly 100-day campaign.
Down the ballot, progressive Saikat Chakrabarti far outspent rivals in California’s 11th Congressional District, only for the former Stripe engineer to finish in third place in the primary. And back at home in Georgia, US Rep. Buddy Carter lost his Senate bid last month, failing to make the GOP runoff despite investing several million dollars of his own money into the campaign.
At a time when affordability concerns are paramount, the intensifying efforts of ultrawealthy candidates can also risk alienating the very voters they are spending so lavishly to court.
“Our data shows that voters are increasingly skeptical of ultrawealthy candidates who write their own checks. Of the 65 federal candidates who put more than $1 million of their own money into their races in 2024, only 10 won,” said Braseth.
But other super-rich candidates like Jackson are hoping for better results. Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate, is the GOP nominee for governor of Ohio, contributing $25 million to his campaign, while Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, heir to a famous family fortune, has similarly seeded his bid for a third term with $25 million.
And, in an upcoming test later this month, former Rep. David Trone, the founder of Total Wine & More, is challenging incumbent Rep. April McClain Delaney for his old seat in Maryland’s 6th District, with the local titans spending a combined nearly $20 million on advertising in a safe Democratic district.
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