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This article is by J.D. Jordan, who is running for State Senate District 56

I believe I can better represent the wide range of voters and values in East Cobb, Roswell, and Woodstock because I was raised socially liberal and fiscally conservative. A big part of that experience was learning and taking to heart the idea that we should have as little government as possible and exactly as much government as we need.

The Republican Party today doesn’t resemble the party my parents supported or the values I was raised to believe in. Through their leadership, Georgia’s legislature has followed a national trend encouraging big-government overreach into nearly every aspect of our private lives.

The government doesn’t belong in our families, our bedrooms, our places of worship, our doctor’s offices, our classrooms and libraries, or—perhaps ironically—our polling places. Nor should one objecting citizen have the power to censor anyone else’s free speech or block their access to healthcare. Rather, the government’s job is to protect our Constitutional rights and ensure the public good—not to impose the righteous will of a minority into our private spheres.

I’m eager to unwind state-government overreach by: 

– Securing LGBTQ equality

– Restoring & protecting reproductive rights

– Putting public schools and libraries back in the hands of professional educators

I’m also a veteran creative-business leader with over 25 years experience working with some of the biggest agencies, consultancies, and brands in the Southeast. It’s one thing to say that Georgia is a great state for business—and not just because one obscure magazine says so. Ours also needs to be a great state for the people who work in those businesses. Who relocate from another state to do business here. Or who aspire to start their own.

While a great many state legislators—our opponent included—point the finger at Washington for our economic woes, I’d rather focus on what action we can take at the state level to take control of our own economic destiny. Rather than be passive and reactive, let’s be proactive and consider what proven levers of government we can use in Georgia to address the myriad challenges of inflation, workforce expansion, and home affordability that affect residents in every tax bracket. Especially those actions for which we have proven examples and from which we can expect a positive return on our tax-dollar investment.

I want Georgia’s state government to be a more proactive force for our economic success by:

– Raising wages & investing in skilled labor.
– Expanding a healthy workforce.
– Putting homeownership within reach—and making it sustainable.
– Supporting small business creation & success.

And lastly, I think it’s high time such a constituent-first approach was brought to bear in Georgia’s legislature. To say that our government is a technical laggard is generous at best. Not only is our constituent experience far behind private-sector customer best practices, we’re way behind the curve compared to other wealthy and developed democracies. And the sad truth is, the vast majority of our elected representatives would fail any reasonable customer-experience assessment—just try to have a discussion with our opponent about a legislative issue and you’ll see how bad it can be.

Neither constituents nor our elected officials have the tools, training, or funding to use best-in-class software solutions to improve communication, engagement, and transparency. But we can only solve problems together when we engage in real dialogue—across ideological lines—and when we’re looking at the same data. It’s incumbent on our elected officials to listen to their constituents, provide all of them equal access to representation, and to communicate clearly and proactively with us about the job they’re doing on our collective behalf.

So, as your State Senator, I promise:

– To be proactive and transparent
– To fight for ethical governance
– To bring customer experience best practices to the Georgia Senate.

I promise to bring everyone in the 56—regardless of ideology—the best possible constituent experience so you feel heard, valued, and supported. As we all deserve to be.

I’m running for the 56. Let’s make a better Georgia for all of us.

For more information about J.D. Jordan’s campaign, visit https://www.forthe56.com