1. Between his periods in the Georgia House of Representatives, Jones was chief executive officer of DeKalb County from 2001 to 2009.
49 Facts About Vernon Jones
1. 2.
Vernon Jones has run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and DeKalb County Sheriff.
3.
Vernon 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.
4.
Vernon 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 US House.
5.
Vernon Jones's father was a veteran of World War II who worked in a mill; his mother and siblings worked on the family farm.
6.
Vernon Jones was the fifth of six children, with four brothers and a sister.
7.
Vernon 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.
8.
Vernon Jones was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1992, representing District SH 071, succeeding Sidney Pope Vernon Jones Jr.
9.
Vernon Jones did not stand for reelection in 2000, instead running for DeKalb County CEO, and was succeeded in the Georgia House by Ron Sailor.
10.
Vernon Jones is the first African American to serve as CEO of the county.
11.
Vernon Jones requested and received Congressional designation of Arabia Mountain as a National Heritage Area.
12.
Vernon Jones was primarily responsible for creation of DeKalb County's first economic development department, which generated $4 billion in new investments.
13.
Shortly after taking office Vernon Jones went back on his campaign pledge to keep the homestead exemption sales tax in place.
14.
Vernon Jones was criticized for vetoing pay raises for police officers.
15.
Under a Consent Order, Vernon Jones returned all excess contributions and personally paid a $7,500 civil penalty.
16.
Vernon 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.
17.
Vernon Jones 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.
18.
On March 23,2007, Vernon Jones announced he was running for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
19.
Vernon Jones 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.
20.
Vernon Jones unexpectedly lost to Martin in his home base of Dekalb County.
21.
Vernon Jones had lost support within the Black community before the runoff election, and only captured two-thirds of the Black vote in the head-to-head match up against Martin.
22.
In 2010, Vernon Jones launched an unsuccessful campaign for the US Congress in Georgia's 4th congressional district.
23.
In 2014, Vernon Jones ran unsuccessfully for Sheriff of DeKalb County, GA.
24.
In March 2016, Vernon Jones filed to run for Georgia House of Representatives, this time in House District 91, an open seat vacated by Dee Dawkins-Haigler.
25.
Vernon Jones won the July runoff election and in November 2016, won election to the Georgia House, defeating Republican Carl Anuszczyk.
26.
Vernon Jones said he had no plans to switch political parties and cited Trump's "handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives" as reasons for his endorsement.
27.
Vernon Jones was swiftly disowned by Georgia Democrats, many of whom announced support for Vernon Jones' primary challenger, Rhonda Taylor.
28.
Vernon Jones addressed the Republican National Convention in August 2020 and reiterated his endorsement of Trump.
29.
On October 16,2020, Vernon Jones spoke at a Trump rally in Macon, Georgia and crowd-surfed afterwards, which drew criticism as it occurred in the middle of a pandemic with a mostly maskless crowd.
30.
Vernon Jones promoted and perpetuated Trump's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
31.
Vernon Jones withdrew his bid for re-election in 2020 and his term ended on January 11,2021.
32.
Vernon Jones's announcement came after movement from Republicans to challenge Kemp in the challenge, after Donald Trump criticized Kemp for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
33.
Vernon Jones trailed Kemp and former Senator David Perdue in the Republican primary polls.
34.
In February 2022, Vernon Jones announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Perdue.
35.
Vernon Jones entered the crowded Republican primary with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
36.
Vernon Jones pledged if elected, he would introduce articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
37.
In May 2022, Vernon Jones placed second in the primary behind trucking executive Mike Collins.
38.
Vernon Jones donated $2,464 in two separate donations to the Georgia Republican Party in 2001.
39.
Vernon Jones was the only Democratic cosponsor of the bill to legalize the concealed carry of firearms on Georgia's college campuses.
40.
Vernon Jones claimed at the time that he would become Speaker of the Georgia House because of the anti-abortion bill if Democrats took the House.
41.
In June 1989, three years before his election to the state legislature, Vernon Jones was arrested on a charge of pointing a pistol at a woman in her home in Doraville.
42.
Criminal charges were dismissed, and Vernon Jones was ordered to attend anger management classes instead.
43.
In 2003, a community activist who complained about Vernon Jones' handling of flooding issues said that a disheveled Vernon Jones, accompanied by a plainclothes county police officer, confronted her in the evening at her home, approaching her with waving arms and clenched fists and mentioning her husband's recent death.
44.
The activist sued Vernon Jones for trespassing and assault; the case was settled out of court on confidential terms in 2009.
45.
Vernon Jones was not prosecuted, and the allegation did not cause him significant political damage.
46.
In 2003, Vernon Jones was investigated by a grand jury for his security detail, which cost $800,000 a year.
47.
The grand jury investigation found that Vernon Jones' five-officer protective detail was "a very expensive decoration" but not unlawful.
48.
Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat, writing for the court, wrote in the ruling that DeKalb County had "embarked on a wholesale plan to replace its white county managers with African Americans" and that Vernon Jones had "devised the plan and monitored its execution".
49.
Vernon Jones was ordered to personally pay $27,750 in damages, which was covered by DeKalb County's liability insurance policy.