Another Republican joins race to succeed Raffensperger as state elections chief

The Republican primary to select Georgia s next Secretary of State just gained another challenger as former Democrat-turned-Republican Vernon Jones entered the race Jones who has served in local and state elective office publicized Monday that he is running to succeed Brad Raffensperger as head of the agency that oversees elections and business licensing Georgia deserves a Secretary of State who will protect every legal vote and restore trust in our elections Jones noted in a report circulated on X Jones served as a Democrat in the Georgia state House twice the first time in the s and then in the s In between he won referendum twice as the leader of DeKalb County establishment serving CEO for eight years in the s After leaving that role Jones ran an unsuccessful campaign for DeKalb sheriff He then won a seat in the state House still as a Democrat He switched to the Republican party as his final term expired in after endorsing Donald Trump s unsuccessful presidential bid against Joe Biden Jones then ran against Gov Brian Kemp during the primary before Kemp s second term as governor dropping out of that race to run for the th Congressional seat losing to current U S Rep Mike Collins despite an endorsement from Trump Jones will be contesting the GOP primary against Raffensperger s former top lieutenant Gabriel Sterling who broadcasted his candidacy in the GOP primary last month just before Raffensperger reported he was running for governor Also in the race is state Rep Tim Fleming R-Covington whom House Speaker Jon Burns a Republican tapped to lead an ongoing polling procedures analysis committee Fleming is a longtime ally and advisor to Gov Brian Kemp having served as his chief of staff in both the governor s office and when Kemp was Secretary of State before Raffensperger And Kelvin King is running as a Republican in the Secretary of State primary too King lost to Herschel Walker in the GOP primary for U S Senate the seat ultimately won by Democrat Raphael Warnock King is married to Janelle King an appointed member of the State Vote Board Two Democrats have filed with the state to raise campaign funds for their Secretary of State campaigns Adrian Consonery Jr and Penny Brown Reynolds a former Fulton County State Court judge The post Another Republican joins race to succeed Raffensperger as state elections chief appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta