SOUTH FORSYTH — A second candidate — with the same last name as the first — has declared his intention to run for the District 25 seat in the Georgia House of Representatives in the May 24 Republican primary.
Johns Creek resident Stuart Jones announced his campaign for the post Friday afternoon. He seeks to replace current Rep. Mike Dudgeon, who has said he will not seek re-election.
Jones said his platform is based on a passion to defend the Second Amendment, to “destroy the waste and fraud in government and protect the rights of our citizens.”
“I’ve seen the havoc government has on peoples’ lives. This is why I believe we need to change in every level of government,” Jones said. “People are fed up. The solution isn’t more politicians with government solutions, but rather someone who has the commonsense and business experience to fix a broken system.”
Jones said he will neither accept nor seek endorsements from politicians and special interest groups for that reason.
“Unfortunately, the only other declared candidate in this race has racked up multiple endorsements from politicians and already has special interest groups running ads for him,” he said. “We cannot continue to elect the same kind of people and expect different results.”
His only other candidate to date, fellow Republican Todd Jones, has been endorsed by Dudgeon, who has held the post that covers much of south Forsyth and enters into Johns Creek in Fulton County since 2011 and is currently the longest-serving lawmaker in the seven-member delegation who lives in the county.
Qualifying for the primary is March 7-11. Neither Jones has held elected office. Both describe themselves as conservative businessmen.
Jones is a financial planner and the president of Premier Advisor Network, where he recruits and coaches others in his industry.
He sits on the board of his homeowner’s association and volunteers for Relay for Life, the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory, the American Cancer Society and other nonprofits.
Jones and his wife, Katherine, have three children and attend North Point Community Church.