Vernon Jones

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.