VALDOSTA – Vernon Jones said today’s Democratic party is far from the way it was in the days of John F. Kennedy and Zell Miller – conservative. He wants to bring those values back to Georgia.

Jones, a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives and chief executive officer of DeKalb County, is a Republican gubernatorial candidate. He stopped May 6 for a campaign meet and greet at Smok’n Pig.

He told a gathering of Valdosta residents about his journey toward becoming a Republican this past January. Jones marketed himself as the only former Democrat in the room.

“I’ve always remained here from the time I was born,” he said. “I look up now, the party is way over there (pointing to the left). So I didn’t leave the party, the party left me.”

Jones said the Democratic party left him on traditional values, family life and serving God. Jones’ platform is about “pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, pro-school choice” and it “will always put Georgia first.”

A part of that, he told the crowd, is making sure critical race theory isn’t taught in Georgia as Jones said it is “doing more to divide this country” than anything he knows.

He said Georgia has failed in its Republican leadership. Jones said he is a “proud” Republican who can defeat current Gov. Brian Kemp who is “scared” of the Democrats.

Should he get elected, Jones said he wants to put a satellite governor’s office in South Georgia.

“You have to go to Atlanta to see your governor,” he said. 

“Residents in South Georgia shouldn’t feel like they have to make the long drive to Atlanta to engage with their representatives in the government,” according to a Jones campaign statement.

Alongside this, Jones said, will be a “comprehensive development plan to make sure the rest of the state of Georgia prospers” economically to save small towns throughout the state.

Small towns are falling apart because industries have left, which further leads to the town’s youth leaving for better opportunities, he said. 

Jones said he hopes to put up a platform to support the environment in a balanced way, such as the public and private landfills he said he helped put together in DeKalb County.

“(We could) join forces with Georgia Power to capture that methane gas and sell it to (them),” Jones said. “Georgia Power converts that to green energy.”

Jones said the Republican Party must grow and he can help achieve that goal.

“We’re not playing along to young conservatives, and we’re not going to the Democratic party and getting those conservative minorities who just don’t trust Republicans,” he said. “They don’t know they’re being taken advantage of by the Democrats.”