Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Democrat who made waves for his support of President Trump, announced he is switching political parties.
“Moments ago, I announced that I am officially joining the Republican Party,” he wrote in a tweet on Wednesday, a day after his state held two runoff contests on the verge of giving Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
Jones argued that his decision was motivated by a decision to fill a power vacuum left behind by the current GOP leadership.
“Now more than ever, the Republican Party is in desperate need of leaders that know how to fight,” he added. “I know how to fight.”
Moments ago, I announced that I am officially joining the Republican Party.
Now more than ever, the Republican Party is in desperate need of leaders that know how to fight.
I know how to fight.
— Vernon Jones (@RepVernonJones) January 6, 2021
Jones’s announcement comes as the Republican Party is grappling with several electoral setbacks.
Trump, the first Republican presidential contender to lose Jones’s home state of Georgia in decades, continues to advocate for unlikely congressional maneuvers to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election that resulted in victory for President-elect Joe Biden. Dozens of Republican members of both the House and the Senate have revealed their intent to object to official certification of Biden’s win when it is presented before Congress on Wednesday.
At home, the GOP is also facing the daunting prospect of two U.S. Senate races in the deep red state of Georgia.,
Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock is projected to have defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and Jon Ossoff has declared victory over Sen. David Perdue, although major news outlets such as the Associated Press have not called that race at this time. And if a race is close enough, a candidate could call for a recount.
If Ossoff triumphs, then the Democrats will enjoy a 50-50 tie in Congress’s upper chamber (including the two independent senators who caucus with the Democratic Party), with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as a tiebreaking vote.
