GOP State Sen. Burt Jones Launches 'Underdog' Lt. Gov. Campaign

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State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) officially launched his campaign for lieutenant governor of Georgia on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.

Credit: Stephen Fowler / GPB News

State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson), an ardent Trump supporter and self-described "underdog," launched his campaign for lieutenant governor of Georgia by vowing to eliminate the state's income tax and electronic voting machines.

Speaking to a crowd Thursday of nearly 1,000 people at the Idlewilde Event Center in Flovilla, Jones said his upbringing in rural Georgia and experience in the legislature leaves him best suited to be the leader of the Georgia State Senate.

"When you look at small towns like Jackson, Ga., and like a lot of counties and cities here in our state, we all have a lot of the same needs," he said. "We usually have needs like health care needs or we have transportation needs or we have job limitations or education limitations. So growing up in a small town, I've witnessed firsthand what it was like to watch people working together in communities and getting things done."

"I think Atlanta and D.C. could learn a lot from rural America," he added.

Jones, who founded JP Capital & Insurance, Inc. and works in risk management, said that he's been looked at as an underdog since being a walk-on at the University of Georgia. He told the crowd his desire to run for office echoed a Winston Churchill quote about getting into politics for ambition but staying because of anger and frustration.

"Well, I didn't get into politics for ambition, but I'm staying in politics because of anger and frustration, and I can tell you that we see so much potential for this state, but I see very little leadership," he said. 

His four central campaign platforms include eliminating Georgia's income tax; bringing "law and order" by providing more resources to law enforcement in the state; giving parents more freedom and flexibility in the K-12 education process, including school choice; and getting rid of Georgia's voting machines in favor of paper ballots.

Jones has also been one of the most prominent skeptics of Georgia's 2020 election and Republican-created election laws. At the Georgia Republican Party state convention, he was one of several "Warrior Award" winners

"There's a lot of people that don't — don't trust in the machinery," he said to reporters. "I'd like to see us move away from that and go back to paper ballots."

Despite three counts of the presidential race, including a hand count of more than five million ballots that confirmed President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump, many grassroots Republicans and elected officials continue to cast doubt on the results and drastically overhaul election laws.

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Jones blasted current Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan's leadership since taking office in 2019 and said there isn't enough communication between the office and rank-and-file lawmakers.

"I would have direct communication with both Republicans and Democrats," he said. "You know, it's hard to not have any kind of direction and neither side really know what's coming over the horizon."

Duncan announced he would not run for reelection after facing ire from Trump and other Republicans for speaking out against false claims of election fraud in Georgia and other states during the 2020 election.

Jones' entry into the race sets up a bitter primary showdown with Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller (R-Gainesville), the rivals each representing different factions within the GOP's Senate majority caucus. Savannah activist Jeanne Seaver and Mack McGregor of LaFayette are also running as Republicans. Several Democrats are in the race, including state Reps. Erick Allen and Derrick Jackson, 

"I'm the only consistent conservative in this race," he said. "The only problem with that is sometimes I've got to stand alone."