Educator and civil rights activist Mokah Jasmine Johnson will run against state Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens), she announced this week.
“We are resilient people—that I know for sure. But even resilience has its limits. After two years of unimaginable hardship, are our communities thriving and growing?” Johnson said in a news release.
“That’s the question on my mind for our district. We might have a brand new district number and new district lines—but the issues are still the same. The bright futures of our children and grandchildren are still at risk.
“Since the last election, as our world was turned upside down by the crushing weight of the coronavirus pandemic and crippling economic losses for so many, I continued to work on the issues that matter to our community: education, economic stability—particularly for low wage workers and small business owners—and protecting our freedom and human rights.
“I believe this district and all Georgians deserve more and better. As your state representative, I will work with local leaders in Barrow, Athens-Clarke, Jackson, and Oconee counties to protect our democracy and way of life.”
Gaines defeated Johnson 57% to 43% in 2020. Then, the district was numbered 117, and a slight majority favored Joe Biden in the presidential race. But Republican legislators shored up Gaines during last fall’s redistricting process, subtracting part of heavily Democratic Clarke County and adding more voters in heavily Republican Jackson County to the district, now numbered 120.
Johnson co-founded the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, which led efforts to pass a local civil rights ordinance prohibiting discrimination by businesses. She also organized rallies against police violence after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and, last year, co-chaired an Athens-Clarke County task force that created a civilian police oversight board, and is active in the local Democratic Party. Most recently, she released a children’s book about the school-to-prison pipeline.
Gaines has enormous resources for his re-election campaign, with more than $250,000 in the bank and the ability to raise much more once the legislative session ends in a few weeks. Johnson is also a prolific fundraiser, having received $278,330 in contributions for the 2020 race, but she had just $19,533 unspent at the end.
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