Rick Jackson showed up in the Republican Georgia gubernatorial race like a tornado swooping into Southwest Georgia. I checked him out. He is for real.

You need to spend a little time and take a close look at this candidate. I have included the campaign introduction video (3 1/2 minutes) and Jackson’s first speech as a candidate (25 minutes). Take a few minutes to listen to him.

Let me share with you what I learned from listening to him and checking him out with people who know him. The title of this article sums it up best – he is for real.

It is not only what he says, but how he says it. I watched his speech and listened to him carefully. I saw a firm, resolute, calm strength and character that developed over years of testing and trials that most of us will never experience.

Rick Jackson grew up in the projects and foster homes. His life was influenced by living with a Christian family and later in the United Methodist Children’s Home.

An article in TwoTen Magazine from ten years ago told his story. When this article was written a decade ago, he was not running for anything. He did not need anything. He just had a committment to help those who had no voice, children in foster care.

That article told how, at five years old, he walked to Sunday School at a church in downtown Atlanta. Living in a foster home, he experienced a family praying before a meal. It was so foreign to him that he could not process the love and faith of that family.

In his first speech, he said that his company’s main cultural value is “Others First.” I checked the Best Places to Work website and found that 90% of his nearly 2500 employees said that it is a great place to work compared to 57% at a typical US based company.

At one point in the speech when he spoke of his addressing a senate committee about foster care, you could see the powerful conviction welling up in him. It caused him to pause for a moment to catch his composure. That kind of reaction cannot be manufactured. He summed up his Others First values:

“The system forgets the people who don’t have money, power, privilege or fame, not those who need it. Right then, I committed to do everything I could to help those without a voice, without a lobbyist, without a checkbook to make their voice heard.”

He did not have to say that he felt a calling to run for Governor. It was evident in his whole being as he spoke. He laid out his vision to make Georgia the the most affordable state in the nation.

His commitment is to freeze property taxes and slash the income tax by 50% in four years. In eight years he strives to eliminate the income tax all together.

He wants to freeze tuition, room and board for state higher education. He wants to tackle the cost of home ownership.

He addresses the “woke nonsense and complete insanity. “ He says that if Christianity cannot be taught then neither will this ideology find a place in Georgia’s public schools.

There won’t be any boys playing in girls sports or in the girls bathrooms and locker rooms. “There are two genders and they are God-given.” He went farther to say that anyone pushing this ideology will not be just stopped but will be held accountable.

He says that there will not be a stronger supporter of the 2nd amendment. From his own personal experience growing up, he is a passionate supporter of law enforcement. I like the way he said that he will make Georgia the worst place in the nation for criminals.

I went beyond what I could find in research and checked with some of those who know him. One commented, “I know of his genuine faith.”

Rick Jackson is for real. I will be proud to give him my vote and have him as my governor. Check him out and I believe you will too.

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