Launching a gubernatorial campaign with a conversation about the need for reparations for descendants of the enslaved isn’t something you see every day— especially in Georgia.
But state Rep. Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, who officially announced his bid for governor last week, says he wants to be a voice for Black voters looking for more aggressive Democratic leadership that isn’t afraid to fight for bold ideas that benefit the masses.
Raising Georgia’s minimum wage to $27 an hour over the course of three years, continuing conversations about a Georgia reparations program, and eliminating state income taxes on teachers, nurses, military veterans, and seniors are just a few of the policies Jackson proposed during a recent interview with Capital B Atlanta.
The five-term state lawmaker said he won’t shy away from fighting for proposals that directly benefit Black Georgians if he’s elected.
“Will there be some things specifically for Black people? Yes, because you’ve got a lot of things specifically for white people,” Jackson said. “When [the federal government passes] a tax cut for the top 1%, 99% of the top 1% are white. We don’t have that many Black millionaires and billionaires.”
Jackson, 59, is a Navy veteran and a married father of seven who characterized himself as the anti-establishment, progressive fighter in an increasingly crowded field of candidates vying to replace Brian Kemp in the governor’s mansion in 2026.
Name-checking rising Democratic stars like U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with trailblazers like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jackson cites the huge crowds Sanders and AOC received at anti-oligarchy rallies as evidence Democratic voters are looking for more progressive, populist candidates.
He accused fellow Georgia Democratic leaders, including state Rep. Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus, of being too moderate and trying to find common ground with Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly instead of outright opposing the GOP agenda.
Hugley overcame Jackson and other Democrats late last year to replace James Beverly as state House Minority Leader. Jackson argues President Donald Trump’s victory in Georgia and across the country made some Democrats question whether voters want them to moderate their positions or resist the controversial president’s agenda, suggesting the uproar over federal employee layoffs in Georgia shows voters want the party to fight harder.
“I lost when I ran for minority leader because the caucus did not want a fighter as their minority leader,” Jackson said. “They chose the status quo, and they regret that right now.”
Earlier this year, Jackson sponsored a bill that would gradually raise Georgia’s minimum wage to $27 an hour in 2028. The legislation, which failed to advance out of committee this year, would have raised the state’s current $5.15 an hour minimum wage to $15 an hour this year, $18 an hour next year, and $21 an hour in 2027 before maxing out at $27 an hour in 2028.
His plan to get progressive policies like this passed isn’t to work with Republicans, who have majority control of the state House and state Senate. It’s to defeat them at the ballot box during next year’s midterm election cycle and give Democrats control of the state House.
“While I’m running for governor, I’m working to flip the [state] House,” Jackson said. “I never believed in extending the olive branch to the Republican Party because it never worked. You’ve never heard a Republican say, ‘I’m going to reach across the aisle,’ so why am I going to extend my arm so you can chop it off?”
Jackson also supports repealing Georgia’s six-week abortion ban and the statewide ban on rent regulation that prevents setting limits on increases. He said he wants to make Georgia a top destination for working families, not just business owners, taking a shot at one of GOP Gov. Brian Kemp’s primary talking points.
“Instead of us being the number one state for business, we’re going to be the number one state for families,” Jackson said. “If we do this right, eventually single citizens will say, ‘Georgia is the best place to raise a family. Georgia is the best place in terms of affordability. Georgia is the best place for health care.’”
“The American Dream is fading for a lot of people,” Jackson continued. “I know the governor has the responsibility to make sure that the state in which they govern is creating an environment that’s conducive for everybody.”
He’s hoping his policy agenda will help the Democratic Party reenergize the Black voters who helped them turn the state blue in 2020, but haven’t matched the same turnout rate since.
“They’re disinterested because they see Democrats and Republicans as the same,” Jackson said of Black voters. “They don’t see nobody fighting for them. They don’t see our interests being met. They see everyone else’s interests being met and satisfied and accomplished, but we’re still left behind.”
Jackson joins a field of candidates that includes Attorney General Chris Carr, state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and former lead pastor and founder of Impact United Methodist Church Olu Brown.
Other rumored candidates include Stacey Abrams, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.
