Brian Kemp endorses Vernon Jones’ opponent

Governor Brian Kemp has endorsed Mike Collins over Vernon Jones in the 10th Congressional District’s GOP matchup. Kemp hopes that his endorsement will allow Collins to beat the Trump endorsed Jones during Tuesday’s runoff.

Former Democrat, now Republican Jones has been a loud critic of Gov. Brian Kemp. After he switched parties, Jones courted former President Donald Trump and frequently blasted Kemp as a phony Republican. 

Jones often repeated much of the rhetoric Trump uttered about Kemp regarding the Governors’ refusal to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results in favor of Trump.

The recent primary election in May saw many of Trump’s Georgia candidates fall by the wayside including former Senator David Perdue, who was soundly beaten by Kemp. 

Jones is one of a few Trump backed candidates trying to get over the finish line on Tuesday, but his path is now blocked by the man and governor he criticized for months, Kemp.

Now that Kemp has secured the Republican nomination, many feel that political payback will follow for those who criticized and did not support him. Among those at the top of Kemp’s list is Jones who he is wasting no time dealing with. 

Kemp, who lives in the northeast Georgia district, is enlisting fellow Republicans to join him in defeating Jones saying “join me in sending a trusted conservative to Washington.” 

For months, Jones has been attempting to portray himself as a far-right conservative after the former DeKalb County politician with a liberal record switched parties. 

Many Republicans, like Kemp, never bought into Jones’s conversion. With his endorsement of his opponent, Mike Collins. Jones’s only lifeline may be Trump, but given what has occurred to others backed by the former president, Jones may be on the losing end on Tuesday.  

Many say Kemp will get the last laugh as he looks to seal Jones’ fate and defeat him. He and Collins are both taking turns taking political shots at Jones. It has been reported that mailboxes in the 18 counties of east-central Georgia were recently filled with mailers from the campaign of Mike Collins attacking Jones as a once Democratic state representative, the former CEO of liberal DeKalb County, and now the “Black Donald Trump.” Collins’ mailer calls Jones a “radically antiwhite racist.” Not to be outdone by those antics, at a recent campaign stop, Collins told voters, “You can vote for someone who has lived here all his life, a conservative who is also an outsider.” Collins then started handing out red rape whistles bearing Jones’ name, a reference to his past misconduct toward women. Jones responded by filing a police report in Morgan County claiming Collins is encouraging violence against him. Tuesday, June 21 will decide this contentious race.