Yeah, that video will leave a mark.
I loved the *idea* of Vernon Jones—the “conservative Democrat” from an overwhelmingly black district (and county) who saw the light—but it appears that Jones was pro-gun and relatively frugal when it came to public spending but otherwise a down-the-line Leftist while in the GA legislature and as DeKalb County Executive. There is absolutely no explanation for his vote against the GA heartbeat bill in March 2019 other than (i) he’s pro-abortion or (ii) he was too cowardly to vote for an abortion ban because he wanted to be elected Speaker if the Democrats captured the GA house (and, after the vote, he predicted that it would cost the GOP the state house because Georgians wouldn’t stand for a six-week abortion ban).
So either Jones is pro-abortion (and thus unsuitable to represent a conservative district, or, really, anything but an overwhelmingly Democrat district) or he’s not quite the “brave conservative” who “defied the Leftist Democrats” while in the state legislature. Jones now claims that he voted against the six-week abortion ban “because it did not ban abortions before six weeks,” but that is ridiculous on its face. No pro-lifer has ever, or would ever, vote against a six-week abortion ban when even a 20-week abortion ban tends to get struck down by the courts. Jones is lying about why he voted with the pro-abortion lobby less than three years ago, and I would not trust him today.
That being said, President Trump has made some terrible endorsements in the past, and he tends to value personal loyalty over everything else, so I would not be surprised if he endorsed Jones and if that was enough to carry him into the runoff (and perhaps to win it). I already take President Trump’s endorsements with a grain of salt, but if he endorses Jones I will begin to look at them as a reason not to support his endorsed candidate, as I do with endorsements from Ron and/or Rand Paul. (BTW, his historical connection to Ron and Rand Paul is one reason why I would not support Paul Braun in the GA-10 primary.)
Even before Vernon Jones’s entry to the race, the GA-10 already had nine (NINE!) candidates whose campaigns had raised between $200,000 and $1,000,000 as of the December 31, 2021. I can’t say that I had a particular favorite before this week, although I did like Mike Collins because his dad (Mac) was a good congressman and because he has raised the most money ($956,000). And after seeing the ad that Collins produced exposing Vernon Jones’s Leftist record and unfitness for office, I can say that Collins is now my preferred candidate in GA-10.
BTW, the filing deadline in GA is March 11, and so far in the GA-02 (Sanford Bishop’s CD, still Democrat-leaning and like 45% black but made a bit less Democratic voting in redistricting) we have two white Republicans who have raised over $100,000 each and three black Republicans who have combined to raise less than $10,000. There is still time for a strong candidate to file there, or for U.S. Army veteran and conservative TV pundit Jeremy Hunt (https://www.jeremyforgeorgia.com/), who is a great candidate on paper, to start raising the $500,000+ that he will need to be competitive (as of December 31, he had raised exactly $0), but it would be a shame if Bishop gets reelected by 51%-49% because we did not find a candidate that could eat into Bishop’s black support and pull off the upset.
Vernon Jones was actually polling pretty high in Governor’s race, until this telecast of the Stu Peters show, which resulted in his polling crashing hard over the next few days.
https://www.brighteon.com/a3d541bf-c78e-4ea4-803e-d328b631e7a5
Many might not think that Peters show has that kind of reach, but this video did go viral and Jones’ support did collapse all within a very short time frame.
I’m only a casual observer of the Georgia races but do remember when this happened, however I otherwise have no idea if this is true or still an issue for him. Guess we’ll find out.
Gunzburger tweeted that ad the other day, when I posted it here this morning it had 1 like and zero comments (sadly I didn’t note the view count), now it has 14 likes (I wish you could still see dislikes) and several comments, most them pro-Jones and hateful of Collins. I guess Freepers are inclined to forgive Jones for the past...and not many of us look at Politics1 feed. ;-)
No, Trump won’t endorse Jones for Gov. He will endorse him for a House seat. Purdue will win this if MAGA turns out.
Baris has been following this. Kemp has a ceiling.
Nine weeks ago, I posted regarding Sanford Bishop’s GA-02 that:
“There is still time for ... U.S. Army veteran and conservative TV pundit Jeremy Hunt (https://www.jeremyforgeorgia.com/), who is a great candidate on paper, to start raising the $500,000+ that he will need to be competitive (as of December 31, he had raised exactly $0), but it would be a shame if Bishop gets reelected by 51%-49% because we did not find a candidate that could eat into Bishop’s black support and pull off the upset.”
Well, I am happy to report that, during the first quarter of 2022, Jeremy Hunt raised $438,000, and that his cash on hand as of March 31 was around $312,000, which is the highest among GOP candidates (including those who started fundraising in 2021). His COH isn’t that far off from the amiunt held by 30-year incumbent Bishop ($512,000).
The GA-02 is a Democrat-leaning CD—President Trump got 44.38% in 2020—but with Jeremy Hunt as the GOP nominee we would have a real shot at the seat. Hopefully the GOP primary voters in the district will see it that way.