Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend and host a fundraiser for Vernon Jones, who is running for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District.
Organizers said in a statement that they have scheduled Jones’ fundraiser for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, March 17, at The Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The event’s Host Committee members include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Other Host Committee members include former National Football League player Jack Brewer, former Ambassador Robin Bernstein, and Lee and Erika Lipton.
Attendees may pay $25,000 to attend VIP and private receptions and pose for a photo with Trump. They may also pay $5,800 just for the VIP and private receptions or $1,000 just to attend the private reception, according to an email advertising the event.
Trump this month endorsed Jones’ candidacy for Congress.
Jones announced last spring that he would run for governor of Georgia to unseat the incumbent and fellow Republican Brian Kemp. This month, however, Jones announced he will depart that race to run for Congress. He then endorsed Republican and former U.S. Senator David Perdue for governor.
Trump, in December, endorsed Perdue for Georgia governor.
Jones, a Democrat-turned-Republican and a political ally of Trump’s, said last spring that Kemp’s job performance, especially when it comes to ensuring “a free, fair, and transparent election,” has fallen short.
According to Ballotpedia, Jones served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Democrat between 2017 and January of this year. He left the Democratic Party in 2021.
U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) is currently running to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Republicans Patrick Witt and Mike Collins are also running for the 10th Congressional District. Witt, according to his Twitter profile, was a member of Trump’s post-election legal team. He also served as a senior official in the Trump administration.
Collins, meanwhile, owns a Jackson-based trucking company.
Matt Richards, also running to replace Hice, said Monday that his campaign has come to an end.
Richards, on Facebook, said the best candidate to replace Hice is Collins.
Richards, a self-described conservative businessman and political outsider labeled himself “a pro-Trump businessman who went from sleeping on a dirt floor to owning his own multi-million dollar demolition company in Atlanta.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Vernon Jones” by Vernon Jones. Background Photo “Mara-a-Lago” by Christine Davis. CC BY 2.0.
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