Trump ally Vernon Jones has launched his bid for Georgia’s highest elective office

Jones, who called himself “Black Donald Trump” Run for Congress in 2022 by endorsing Trump, bolstering the president’s false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was stolen from him.

“Confidence in our elections has been shaken,” Jones said in a video announcing his campaign for secretary of state. He added: “Our elections must be secure. Our ballots must be protected.”

Current Minister of Foreign Affairs Brad RaffenspergerHe is a Republican, and is running for governor in the 2026 election. One of Raffensperger’s former top officials, Republican Gabriel Sterling, is also running to replace him. They both made names for themselves Defending the results of the presidential election in Georgia In 2020, after Trump called Raffensperger and asked him to do so “Find” sounds To cancel Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

Jones It leaked From the 2022 governor’s race, he then lost the Republican congressional primary that same year to U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is now vying for Trump’s endorsement to try to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Before his loss to Collins, Jones served several terms in the Georgia State House of Representatives before becoming a Republican in January 2021 as his final term expired. Jones became a popular voice in Republican circles as an African American who endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign.

The Secretary of State oversees state elections, corporate filings, professional licensing, and other business activities.

If elected, Jones said, he would push for the use of paper ballots instead of the electronic system in Georgia, limit mail-in voting, and tighten voter ID laws. It will also try to “cut red tape” for small businesses.

Besides Sterling, Republican state Reps. Tim Fleming and Kelvin King are also running. Both Jones and King appeal to Trump supporters who question election security. king’s wife, Janelle Kingis a member of the state elections board that has seen some major action It was overturned by the state Supreme Court.

Fleming chairs a commission studying Georgia’s electoral system, and is another supporter of hand-marked ballots, a major demand of activists skeptical of voting machines in the state.

Little-known candidate Adrian Consoneri Jr. and former Fulton County state court judge Judge Penny Brown Reynoldswho had a brief stint on reality television, is running as a Democrat.

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Cramon is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.