Vernon Jones facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vernon Jones
Jones in 2021
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
In office January 9, 2017 – January 11, 2021
Preceded by	Dee Dawkins-Haigler
Succeeded by	Rhonda Taylor
Constituency	91st district
In office January 1, 1993 – January 1, 2001
Preceded by	Sidney Jones
Succeeded by	Walter Ronnie Sailor Jr.
Constituency	71st district
Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County
In office January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2009
Preceded by	Liane Levetan
Succeeded by	Burrell Ellis
Personal details
Born	Vernon Angus Jones (1960-10-31) October 31, 1960 (age 64) Laurel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Republican (2021–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before 2021)
Education	North Carolina Central University (BA)

Vernon Angus Jones (born October 31, 1960) is an American politician who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001 and from 2017 to 2021.

Between his periods in the Georgia House of Representatives, Jones was chief executive officer of DeKalb County from 2001 to 2009. He has also run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and DeKalb County Sheriff.

Jones began his political career as a Democrat, but became a Republican in 2021 after endorsing Donald Trump for re-election and speaking at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Jones initially ran for Governor of Georgia in the Republican primary against incumbent Brian Kemp in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election before running unsuccessfully for the U.S. House.

Early life and business career

Born in Laurel Hill, North Carolina, Jones grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina. His father was a veteran of World War II who worked in a mill; his mother and siblings worked on the family farm. Jones was the fifth of six children, with four brothers and a sister. He attended North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina, and became a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity there, before graduating with a B.A. in business administration in 1983. Jones also completed the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Executive Program.

Jones began his career in the telecommunications industry, first working with MCI Communications (which later became MCI Inc.) and later BellSouth Corporation. At BellSouth, he was part of a team that established wireless communications in Montevideo, Uruguay. Jones has served on the DeKalb Board of Health, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the DeKalb Library Board, the DeKalb Pension Board, and the Board of Visitors for Emory University and North Carolina Central University.

Political career

Georgia House of Representatives

Jones was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1992, representing District SH 071, succeeding Sidney Pope Jones Jr. Jones served from 1993 to 2001, during which time he was a member of the Appropriations Committee, the Insurance Committee, and the Health & Ecology Committee, as well as the Banking Committee, and a special Judiciary Committee. Jones also chaired the Chairman of the Health Professions Subcommittee. Among the proposals Jones sponsored or co-sponsored in the Georgia House was a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag emblem from Georgia State flag, and a bill that would have banned minors from purchasing music with explicit lyrics. Jones did not stand for reelection in 2000, instead running for DeKalb County CEO, and was succeeded in the Georgia House by Ron Sailor.

DeKalb County CEO

Jones was elected as chief executive officer of DeKalb County, Georgia, in 2000, winning 64% of the vote, and was re-elected in 2004 with 54% of the vote. Jones is the first African American to serve as CEO of the county. In April 2001, shortly after Jones became CEO, he voted, along with five other DeKalb County Commissioners, to offer life and health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of gay and unmarried County employees. DeKalb was the first county in Georgia to offer such benefits. During his administration, DeKalb County established the first local Homeland Security Office in 2001. He requested and received Congressional designation of Arabia Mountain as a National Heritage Area. Jones was also primarily responsible for creation of DeKalb County's first economic development department, which generated $4 billion in new investments.

However, Jones's term as DeKalb County CEO was also known for controversies and accusations of improprieties. Shortly after taking office Jones went back on his campaign pledge to keep the homestead exemption sales tax in place. He was criticized for vetoing pay raises for police officers. In January 2005, the Georgia State Ethics Commission sanctioned Jones for campaign contribution limit violations in his 2004 reelection campaign. Under a Consent Order, Jones returned all excess contributions and personally paid a $7,500 civil penalty. Jones apologized and stated that changes in campaign finance laws between the initial election and the run-off election were the reason for his acceptance of nineteen improper campaign contributions. He was initially accused of illegally using campaign funds to promote the 2005 bond referendum, but the State Ethics Commission "found no reasonable grounds" for the complaint.

2008 United States Senate campaign

Jones ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008, but was defeated 60% to 40% in the 2008 run-off for Georgia's Democratic U.S. Senate primary.

On March 23, 2007, Jones announced he was running for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss. Jones was criticized by his chief rival Jim Martin over his more conservative politics and past support for George W. Bush. Jones' campaign was also marred by two new controversies. Jones sent out a flier in which he appeared in a digitally altered picture next to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with the words "Yes We Can." However, Obama himself stated he not only never posed with Jones, he did not endorse Jones or any other candidate for the Democratic nomination for Senate. In response, Jones blamed his "liberal opponents backed by the liberal media" for trying to ruin his campaign. Jones was also criticized for the appearance of the tagline "Vote Vernon Jones for GA Senate" on tickets, produced using county funds, for the Dekalb County Blues and Jazz Festival. The company who printed the tickets, supporters of Jones' campaign, took responsibility for the incident; saying that they were unaware campaign finance laws made such an action illegal.

In the July 15, 2008 Democratic primary election, Jones won a plurality of votes in the Democratic primary. However, Georgia law requires a majority; if no majority is reached by a candidate, the two top vote-getters must face one another in a runoff. On August 5, 2008, Jones lost the run-off election to Jim Martin by a margin of 20 points. Jones unexpectedly lost to Martin in his home base of Dekalb County. Jones had lost support within the Black community before the runoff election, and only captured two-thirds of the Black vote in the head-to-head match up against Martin. The Black turnout in the run-off was also substantially lower than the initial primary election, further hurting Jones' chances in the runoff.

Unsuccessful races

In 2010, Jones launched an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Congress in Georgia's 4th congressional district. In 2014, Jones ran unsuccessfully for Sheriff of DeKalb County, GA. He lost to incumbent Sheriff Jeff Mann, 76% to 24%.

Return to the Georgia House

In March 2016, Jones filed to run for Georgia House of Representatives, this time in House District 91, an open seat vacated by Dee Dawkins-Haigler. In the May 2016 Democratic primary election, Jones came within sixty votes of an outright victory, but was forced into a runoff election with Rhonda Taylor. Jones won the July runoff election and in November 2016, once again won election to the Georgia House, defeating Republican Carl Anuszczyk.

Endorsement of Donald Trump and change in party affiliation

On April 14, 2020, Jones became the first state elected Democratic official in Georgia to endorse President Donald Trump's re-election bid. Jones said he had no plans to switch political parties and cited Trump's "handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives" as reasons for his endorsement. Jones was swiftly disowned by Georgia Democrats, many of whom announced support for Jones' primary challenger, Rhonda Taylor. After initially saying he would resign from the state House, Jones reversed himself and said that he would complete the rest of his term, but would not seek reelection.

Jones addressed the Republican National Convention in August 2020 and reiterated his endorsement of Trump. On October 16, 2020, Jones spoke at a Trump rally in Macon, Georgia and crowd-surfed afterwards, which drew criticism as it occurred in the middle of a pandemic with a mostly maskless crowd.

Jones promoted and perpetuated Trump's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Jones withdrew his bid for re-election in 2020 and his term ended on January 11, 2021. On January 6, 2021, he spoke at a rally in Washington D.C. before Trump's own speech, saying that he stands "firm for President Donald J. Trump" and announcing that he was changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican amid cheers from the audience; after the rally, the pro-Trump protesters stormed the United States Capitol Building.

2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

In April 2021, Jones announced his intention to declare a run in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Republican Brian Kemp. He was joined by 107th Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and 40th New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik in his announcement. His announcement came after movement from Republicans to challenge Kemp in the challenge, after Donald Trump criticized Kemp for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Jones trailed Kemp and former Senator David Perdue in the Republican primary polls. In February 2022, Jones announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Perdue.

2022 United States House campaign

After withdrawing his candidacy for governor, Jones announced he would run for the United States House of Representatives in Georgia's 10th congressional district. He entered the crowded Republican primary with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Jones pledged if elected, he would introduce articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In May 2022, Jones placed second in the primary behind trucking executive Mike Collins. Neither candidate got above 50% of the vote so the two advanced to a runoff in June 2022, which Jones lost.

Political positions

During his 2008 Senate campaign, Jones described himself as a "conservative Democrat" who favors "tough immigration laws and fiscal responsibility" as well as "supporter of gun rights and a staunch environmental advocate". During his 2008 campaign, he stated that he opposed same-sex marriage. OnTheIssues.org rated Jones as a "Moderate Libertarian Conservative". Jones stated that he voted for George W. Bush in 2004, and supported Barack Obama in 2008. Jones donated $2,464 (~$4.07 thousand in 2022) in two separate donations to the Georgia Republican Party in 2001. In a 2014 press release, Jones characterized himself as an "advocate for limited government, security and protections for all citizens, balanced budgeting, ethical and efficient elections, [and] job creation". Jones was the only Democratic cosponsor of the bill to legalize the concealed carry of firearms on Georgia's college campuses.

LGBT civil rights

Jones opposes civil rights for LGBT people, having told Steve Bannon, "civil rights for Blacks, and gay rights for gays, are two different things."