Rick Jackson Campaigns at Barbershop Touting Loans for Black Entrepreneurs

Overcoming a difficult childhood is something Georgia Senate candidate Furquan Stafford and gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson have in common. 

The 54-year-old co-founder of Atlanta’s Stafford Boxing Club says he grew up in foster care like Jackson, who was raised in Atlanta’s Techwood Homes. That shared experience was one of the themes the candidates bonded over last week during a meet-and-greet event at the Barber’s Inc. barbershop on Old National Highway in College Park on June 30.

Stafford, who lives in Stonecrest, was one of 55 Black residents who chopped it up with Jackson. He talked about his faith in God and his desire to help Georgians from all walks of life.

Stafford said that Jackson expressed support for establishing a grants and loans program exclusively for Black entrepreneurs. The candidate’s proposal would be in stark contrast to anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion policies backed by President Donald Trump, who has spent much of his second term eliminating programs that factor in race as criteria for approval.

“He said that he would like grants and loans specifically for Black Americans, not minorities, or anything that would divert from Black people,” Stafford said. “He really genuinely cares about people. I don’t think it’s really about Republican or Democrat, Black or white. He really cares about everyone.”

Jackson’s campaign clarified Wednesday that the candidate told attendees he would “consider” a grants and loans program for Black entrepreneurs, but improving access to capital for Black business owners is “something he’s committed to resolving.”

There’s a strategic reason one of Jackson’s first two campaign stops since winning the party’s June 17 gubernatorial runoff was in a majority-Black city, according to members of his staff.

“His outreach is not an afterthought, but a significant part of the campaign’s efforts to ensure Georgia voters who have felt left behind and ignored by the status quo know that Rick Jackson is going to fight and win big for them, no matter their ZIP code,” campaign spokesperson Garrison Douglas told Capital B Atlanta on Wednesday.

Prior to joining Jackson’s campaign team in June, Douglas served as press secretary for GOP Gov. Brian Kemp and helped lead Black outreach efforts for the Republican National Committee for two years, beginning in 2020.

He’s one of several Black Republicans working to help Jackson make inroads with African American voters, who have long been the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc.

Their efforts come at a time when many Black voters have grown weary of establishment politicians in both major parties. Trump helped the GOP make noteworthy gains in Black support during the last three presidential election cycles, but that support has wavered since 2024.

A New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in May showed Trump’s net Black approval rating at 14%, down a point from the estimated 15% of the Black vote he secured in 2024, which was the highest Black support for a GOP presidential candidate since Richard Nixon.

Some Black Georgians who voted for Trump in 2024 recalled faring better economically during his first four years in office than they did during President Joe Biden’s administration. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid inflation led to a surge in prices for groceries, utility bills, housing, and other consumer goods that hurt Black households.

Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war, and other economic policies have been blamed for exacerbating rising costs. 

The president’s One Big Beautiful Bill also led to cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Housing and Urban Development rental assistance and other programs many Black Georgians rely on. Trump’s layoffs of federal workers have also disproportionately impacted Black households. 

Black Republican leaders in Georgia acknowledged Trump’s declining popularity within their own ranks.

Conservative radio host Shelley Wynter, who also attended the College Park event, has endorsed Jackson to succeed Kemp in the governor’s mansion. He said Jackson would be wise to distance himself from Trump.

“If I were on his campaign, I would tell him, ‘Let’s mention that name [Trump] less and less,'” Wynter told Capital B Atlanta. He also felt alignment with Trump could benefit his opponent, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who currently leads in the polls.

A Fox News poll conducted in late June has Bottoms (52%) five points ahead of Jackson (47%). That poll has a 3% margin of error. A Wick Research poll conducted about the same time shows the race is a dead heat.

“I think Keisha is going to make this a national referendum on the Republican Party, which is smart for her to do. The hard part is, you’re not attacking a Republican politician, so it’s a little bit tougher to land.”

Bottoms has maintained the attack lines that Jackson is in this race to help maximize his profits. WABE reports Jackson’s companies have received nearly $1 billion in state contracts since 2020.

“While Rick Jackson focuses on how to make more money off hardworking Georgians, Keisha Lance Bottoms is focused on lowering costs, investing in education, and giving every Georgian an opportunity to succeed,” the Bottoms campaign said in a recent post on Instagram.

Despite branding himself as a political outsider, Jackson has referred to himself as a version of Trump with a “Southern tone.” He’s also said he will be “Trump’s favorite governor” in campaign ads and has endorsed Trump’s aggressive positions on immigration and other issues.

Wynter and other Jackson supporters said while he and Trump have similar backgrounds as outsider candidates and businessmen, unlike Trump, Jackson is a devout Christian who has a less ego-driven demeanor.

“I don’t think he’s trying to be like Donald Trump in terms of personality,” Stafford said. “There’s only one Donald Trump.”

Jackson has also gained the support of the Georgia Black Republican Council, despite taking heat from the group earlier this year after he and other candidates declined to attend a GBRC forum in South Fulton.

GBRC leader Camilla Moore received applause at that event when she told attendees not to vote for any candidate who chose not to show up.

“We’re part of the GOP, so we’re fully behind Rick Jackson,” Moore told Capital B Atlanta  Tuesday.

Former NFL star Frank Murphy is the Republican operative leading Black outreach for Jackson’s campaign. He says the College Park barbershop visit is just the beginning of the campaign’s Black engagement strategy. He declined to elaborate further on their “playbook.”

“You can expect us to be in a lot of locations doing what we love doing, talking to all people, hearing from all people,” Murphy said. “The game plan is to be where people want to hear Rick Jackson and want to learn from Rick Jackson about who he is.”

Murphy is one of Jackson’s supporters who said his status as a business leader who has never worked in politics and his humble beginnings growing up in public housing give him strong appeal. 

“You’ll never have another candidate running for governor that will be able to say he’s the first kid out of the projects that will win governor,” he said.

When asked by Capital B Atlanta in June why Black voters should support his campaign, Jackson said his goal is to make Georgia the most affordable state in America, the best place to raise a family, and the worst place to be a criminal.

“I’m running to make sure every Georgian has the opportunity to succeed that they deserve,” Jackson said via email. “I’ll strengthen our schools, protect our values, support law enforcement, and make every community safer. I’m running to make sure every Georgian has the opportunity to succeed that they deserve.”

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