Kemp launches 2022 reelection campaign, attacks Abrams with MLB ad
News, Politics July 13, 2021
ATLANTA – Georgia Governor Brian Kemp officially launched her 2022 reelection campaign on Saturday in Perry and quickly singled out Stacey Abrams for her involvement in the MLB boycott.
Kemp’s currently doing his best to shore up Republican support after suffering political fallout from the 2020 election. He’s still the target of former President Donald Trump’s ire for not aiding Trump in his efforts to investigate and overturn the November General Election results.
However, since the governor signed the Elections Integrity Act earlier this year, Kemp’s image appears to be on the rebound among many Georgia Republicans. He’s been the face of Georgia’s election reform across the country.
It’s a message he plans to continue capitalizing on, attacking prospective candidate Stacey Abrams in campaign ads during the MLB All-Star Game. Abrams initially favored MLB pulling the All-Star game, but later backtracked her position on social media.
The decision to move the All-Star Game cost Georgia businesses $100 million in income.
Senate Republicans will be running a similar ad attacking Warnock’s position on the MLB boycott. Warnock’s up for election in 2022 as well.
U.S. Justice Department’s currently suing Georgia for the new election law. However, the Supreme Court just upheld Arizona’s voting laws last week, which throws the Georgia case into question.
Kemp currently has two challengers in the Republican Primary Kandiss Taylor and former Democrat Representative Vernon Jones.
Jones has been a vocal Trump supporter and was endorsed by Rudy Giuliani. North Georgia’s recently been blanketed in Jones signs, and many are reluctant to let go of their love of Trump. Kemp’s efforts to remind voters of his accomplishments and commitment to free and honest elections might be enough to continue to turn public opinion, but at this time, it’s unclear.
Trump’s withholding an endorsement in the Governor’s race for the time being but did endorse Jody Hice, the minute he entered the Georgia Secretary of State Race against Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger.
Georgia Republicans aren’t likely to soon forget their loses in 2020, and Kemp’s aggressive shots at an opponent who isn’t even officially in the race, suggest raucous times ahead for Georgians.
Feature image courtesy of Kemp campaign.
Vernon Jones feels welcomed by the Republican party
News, Politics, State & National June 7, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga – Gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones (R) attended and spoke at the Georgia Republican Convention over the weekend.
Jones, former Democrat turned Republican, continued to make his case against Governor Brian Kemp (R) and that Georgians need a real leader.
He added that people outside of the GOP establishment were quick to welcome him over from the Democrat Party. Jones believes he’s the person to grow the Republican party by bringing in people who hadn’t previously voted for the GOP, such as conservative minorities and young people.
“I’ve been conservative all my life, more conservative than a lot of Republicans I served within the state legislature,” Jones stated. “I’ve been a legislature longer than Brian. I’ve been a chief executive longer than Brian. My experience stacks right there with him.”
Jones said he’s happy for people to vet his qualifications for the role and cited his record on cutting taxes, managing police, water/sewer, and transportation departments, airports, more than 8,000 employees, and budgets. He’s also overseen an election office on the local level
“I’ve been an executive for eight years. Brian’s been an executive for four years,” Jones remarked. “I’ve been battle-tested.”
As for the money to run statewide, Jones didn’t appear concerned about Kemp’s campaign war chest. He’d rather run a grassroots campaign because he has the leadership experience to back it up on the state and federal levels.
“If you couldn’t trust the Governor in 2020, how can you trust him in 2022, more importantly in 2024,” Jones commented before pivoting to his record for stumping Trump in 2020 and his vocal support for an election integrity investigation.
He continued to hit hard at Kemp, flat out staying the incumbent is in trouble with the people in Georgia. Kemp was met with boos and cheers during his speech at the convention. However, Kemp’s also bounced back with some Republicans following SB 202.
Jones doesn’t believe anything Kemp has done since the 2020 election will ultimately save him in 2022.
“We can’t have somebody who wants to talk like DeSantis and then walk like Mitt Romney,” Jones mocked Kemp before adding he can bring the true conservative leadership.
Jones likes to claim he’s the only one who can beat Stacey Abrams (D), who is just to enter the race. Kemp recently challenged that stating he’s the only person who has actually beat the Democrat powerhouse.
Lack of leadership: Vernon Jones attacks Governor Brian Kemp
News, State & National April 14, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga – Former State Representative and Trump ally Vernon Jones continued to flirt with the idea of running for Georgia Governor as a Republican.
Jones switched the Republican Party in January after previously stating he had no plans to do so. However, his tweets “if I were governor” suggested he wants to primary current Governor Brian Kemp (R).
At 10 a.m. at Liberty Park on Friday, April 16, Jones will make an announcement whether he is running or not. If he does announce, it’s like Trump will endorse him.
He’s promised an “overhaul” of Georgia’s election system if he was governor but didn’t go into details.
As for switching parties, Jones asked for the same treatment as past Republicans who started out as Democrats, such as former Governor’s Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal. If reelected, Kemp will be the first life-long Republican to reattain the office since Reconstruction.
Jones added that not everyone agrees, and no one should expect 100 percent agreement. He claimed that Democrats disagreed with his conservative nature for 30 years, and now, he no longer has to abide by their rules.
Kemp’s leadership or lack there of was the focus of Jones talking points. He wanted to know why Kemp let MLB pull the All-Star game from Georgia, what actions did he take to prevent it? Did Kemp speak with Delta about their objections to SB 202. According to Jones, Kemp’s failures to address voter integrity issues months ago, cost Georgia money.
Accusing Kemp of hiding and letting the General Assembly clean up his mess, Jones attacked the governor for not taking a proactive role in November 2020. He didn’t call a special session to discuss election issues. Several Democrats and Republicans have praised Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) for not bending to the will of Trump during that time.
However, other Georgia voters lost faith in the system after the General Election. Legislators spoke at length during the 2021 Session about constituents calling to express their voting concerns.
Vernon Jones speaks on Trump Rally and crowdsurfing
Feature News, Featured, Featured News October 19, 2020
Fresh off his weekend and an event where he “crowd-surfed” to a young man in a wheelchair because he wanted a picture, Georgia State Representative, Vernon Jones (D) says, “Let me be clear about one thing. I’m committed to this President. I believe in this President. I took a leap of faith and I believed in that crowd and that crowd caught me.”
This was not Jones’ first event in support of President Donald Trump either. He is campaigning for the President in the current elections saying that he is a life-long Democrat, but he would not vote for Joe Biden.
Comparing the two, Jones said that Biden has destroyed black men and women through mass incarceration. He has a record of doing nothing whereas Trump has produced results like the First Step Act restoring families.
Focusing on business and the economy, Jones listed several things as accomplishments in Trump’s Presidency like correcting trade agreements to a fair agreement for America, grew the economy evidenced by businesses expanding and job growth, increased pay for those in military service, and supported historical black college funding.
Jones said, “He has done more in the past 47 months than Joe Biden has done in the past 47 years.”
He added that people are being shamed for supporting Trump by the media and others as they are being portrayed as racists and bigots. But these people are just people. People who don’t care what color you are, people who just love their country.
Many Democrats are turning in support of the President and for himself, according to Jones, because they see the craziness in their own party, the anger in their own party, and the violence in their own party.
Jones referenced the incident over the weekend of a Trump supporter who was attacked and lost two teeth in the beating he took. He said this is the game that these liberals are playing. They are trying to incite fear through violence, fear through the pandemic, and fear through the media.
In full support of Trump, he said in an interview that the President is the best hope in support of our first and second amendment rights. He later added that voting for Biden isn’t even a vote for Biden as president. “He wouldn’t be the president, it would be Kamala Harris,” he said.
He added that she would be even scarier.
Going down the ballot from Trump, Jones also showed his support for Doug Collins and the work he has already done for Georgia as a Representative for the 9th Congressional District. While he didn’t specifically comment on Loeffler, he did say that Warnock was the wrong choice saying, “… it’s a vote for our civil liberties to be lost. It’s a vote for illegal immigration. It’s a vote for taking away the tax cut. He is dangerous.”
However, he didn’t stay long with this race and returned again to the Presidential Election and its importance as he said he was going to continue supporting and campaigning for Trump through his birthday even, October 31. He said that despite the polls, he wants Georgia to be all for the president in his re-election. Especially since the opposition has the major media supporting and propping up Biden’s campaign.
Jones pointed to the media and incidents with Biden meeting with Russian officials. He asks why none of them are asking Biden about it and why he or anyone in his campaign wouldn’t denounce the allegations or answer the questions.
With more events coming and debates on the way, Jones said he is looking to continue campaigning hard as he stands behind his words and endorsements.
It was a common theme during his statements. Constantly focused on the election, on Trump, and on the future of America. Many other stories are focused on his crowd surfing and the meaning or consequences of that day.
Jones stated in the video, “Show me the next crowd. I’ll do the same thing.”