Vernon Jones To Challenge Kemp For Governor In GOP Primary

ATLANTA — Democrat-turned-Republican political provocateur Vernon Jones announced Friday that he would challenge Gov. Brian Kemp for the state’s top job.

“For those who feel the incumbent governor didn’t fight for you, a new day has dawned,” Jones said during his announcement.

The former State House Representative and DeKalb County CEO has hinted for some time that he would pursue the Governor’s mansion after embracing the false belief that former President Donald Trump was cheated out of the November election and Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger were complicit in Georgia.

Characterizing himself as a “woke” Black Republican with “a mind of his own,” Jones last year switched parties after endorsing, then speaking out for Trump on the first night of the Republican National Convention.

The 60-year-old Jones has had a complicated history with the Democratic Party and in politics in general, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution chronicled in a political profile last year.

In the runup to Friday’s announcement, he has been a vocal Trump supporter and a staunch critic of Kemp.

While Trump has not endorsed a candidate to run against Kemp, CBS 46 reports that the former president vowed to return to Georgia to support any challengers, in apparent retribution for the governor refusing to comply with demands to overturn November election results.

Last week from his Maralago home in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, however, Trump seemed to signal his support of Jones' run.

The Georgia primaries will begin in the Spring of 2022 ahead of an eventful November 2022 general election that will also feature a political fight between Sen. Rafael Warnock (D) and recently announced GOP rival Kelvin King.