By MARILYN GEEWAX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/23/07
Washington — Although DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones quietly filed his paperwork to run for U.S. Senate this week, he was more direct Thursday when he walked into Saxby Chambliss' Washington office and told the incumbent Republican senator that he has competition.
Jones, a former Democratic state representative now in his second term as DeKalb CEO, has been reluctant to publicly declare his candidacy. But on Monday, without fanfare, he notified the Federal Elections Commission that he is entering the 2008 Senate race as a Democrat.
Ann Kimbrough, chief of staff to Jones, said her boss visited with Chambliss, Georgia's senior senator, as well as Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat who represents most of DeKalb, to inform them of his candidacy. Jones himself could not be reached for comment.
Chambliss' office confirmed that the two men met Thursday afternoon to talk about transportation issues. But there was no immediate comment on what Jones said about the campaign.
Chambliss' current six-year term expires at the end of 2008.
Jones filed paperwork in December saying he was organizing an exploratory campaign committee: Vernon Jones for Georgia.
At that time he said he was busy "concentrating on the people's business in DeKalb County."
But he also said then that he was concerned about the "poor customer service" and "inefficiency" of the federal government.
At a DeKalb County Commission meeting that month, he quipped, "I'm going to be running for president of the United States."
Jones himself chuckled later in that meeting when Commissioner Burrell Ellis, apparently in jest, mentioned a bid by the CEO for the Senate. Ellis, smiling, said he didn't realize his microphone was on.
In January, Jones, who is limited to two terms as county CEO, again dropped hints, though he never outright said he is interested in the Senate seat. At his state of the county address, he toyed with an announcement, saying the nation could use a "certain person" with the kind of experience he's gotten while running DeKalb County.
"If you send a certain person to Washington," Jones said in January, "he can do for this country what we did for this county."
Then in February, he held a $100-per-person fund-raiser, run by a host committee of 17 people. Held at the home of Jones' personal attorney, Maurice Bennett, the host committee included Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, DeKalb County Commissioner Lee May and DeKalb Recorders Court Judge R. Joy Walker.
He has filed no paperwork since but will need to report by April 15 if he raises or spends $5,000 by the end of March.
Chambliss is rated among the most conservative senators and has been a hawk on the war in Iraq. Democrats have made his defeat a top priority in the next election because of lingering anger over ads he used in his 2002 campaign that they said unfairly questioned the patriotism of Democratic incumbent Max Cleland, a triple-amputee Vietnam veteran.
Jones would be the second DeKalb Democrat in consecutive campaigns to make a Senate bid. Former U.S. Rep. Denise Majette of Stone Mountain ran in 2004, losing to Republican Johnny Isakson.
Staff writer Bob Kemper contributed to this article.
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