Rick Jackson, a newly announced candidate in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, has pledged in campaign advertising to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the state, while records show his healthcare company has promoted and implemented DEI-related programming in recent years.
Rick Jackson, a newly announced candidate in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, has pledged in campaign advertising to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the state, while records show his healthcare company has promoted and implemented DEI-related programming in recent years.
Jackson entered the Republican primary field this month, joining Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Attorney General Chris Carr. The primary election is scheduled for May 19, 2026.
Jackson runs a healthcare company called Jackson Healthcare, a Georgia-based healthcare staffing and services firm. In a campaign advertisement, Jackson says he will “ban DEI insanity.”
Yet, on March 11, 2022, Jackson Healthcare posted on Facebook that its president, Shane Jackson, joined academic and business leaders at the 2022 Business School Diversity Conference. According to the post, the conference was hosted by the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, sponsored by the Business School DEI Collaborative, and covered topics aimed at helping professionals advance DEI programs within their organizations. The Facebook post linked to a LinkedIn post from Shane Jackson that included the hashtag #dei. The LinkedIn post has since been deleted.
Furthermore, in February 2021, Jackson Healthcare highlighted the work of Matthew S. Harrison, Ph.D., who at the time served as Senior Vice President of Talent & Development. In a Feb. 22, 2021 Facebook post, the company stated that Harrison would speak during the HERO Winter Think Tank about diversity and inclusion as core components of well-being and as central to Jackson Healthcare’s Associate Network Groups. The post said Harrison would address diversity and inclusion in relation to allyship and employee experience.
When Breitbart News asked the Jackson campaign to clarify Jackson Healthcare’s promotion of DEI, a campaign spokesman said that Jackson would block any mandates on DEI promotion like that previously undertaken by his company.
“Jackson Healthcare recruits the same way the Georgia Bulldogs do. The best players hit the field. Rick has never hired anyone based on anything other than talent and skill,” said campaign spokesman Dave Abrams in a response provided by a campaign representative.
Abrams then accused Burt Jones, who as Lieutenant Governor oversaw passage of SB 140, a law prohibiting sex reassignment surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for minors with limited exceptions, of trying “to shield doctors who mutilate children with gender transition procedures,” adding, “Rick Jackson will put them in jail.”
According to previous Breitbart News reporting, a listing live at the time of his campaign announcement included a bilingual Planned Parenthood nurse position in Minnesota, and other listings sought pediatric endocrinologists and specialists for transgender patients, including minors. The listings appeared on LocumTenens.com, a recruiting website owned by Jackson.
Jackson’s campaign responded that LocumTenens.com operates as a free, self-service job posting platform similar to other online job boards and does not review or edit postings or actively recruit for those roles. A campaign spokesperson also stated that while some states currently allow certain transgender procedures, Jackson would seek to criminalize transgender procedures on minors if elected governor.
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