Jones kicks off race for governor
Chris Jones returned to his roots in Pine Bluff to announce his candidacy for the governor of Arkansas Tuesday afternoon to a standing ovation of supporters gathered in the Pine Bluff Public Library conference room.
“There’s no place like home,” said the Pine Bluff native and 1995 Watson Chapel graduate. “I’m a seventh-generation Arkansan. No matter where my educational training or career has taken me, Arkansas has always been home. It’s where my parents still live and where my wife Jerrilyn and I are raising our three beautiful daughters.”
Jones, former executive director of Winrock International’s Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub who resigned in April, holds a doctoral degree in urban studies and planning and has a master’s degrees in nuclear engineering and technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston where he met his wife.
The family of five currently resides in Little Rock.
“He let me know early on in our relationship that his goal was to move home and give back to the state that meant so much to him,” said his wife, Jerrilyn D. Jones, an emergency room doctor and Arkansas state medical director for preparedness and response. “I’ve been blessed to be part of that vision and see how it has manifested over the past several years.”
Jones, 44, said he was proud of the work he had done so far but the journey for him was not over.
“We’re here today because our journey together is only getting started,” he said, adding that his focus was to allow every Arkansan a chance to live their dreams. “Too often those dreams feel out of reach. There are too many barriers to getting ahead.”
As Jones has traveled Arkansas over the past few years as he held his position at the innovation hub, he said he witnessed firsthand the many barriers Arkansans faced, from being underpaid to facing healthcare disparities to children being hungry, to name a few.
“It’s heartbreaking to know we have underpaid workers, Arkansans without health care, children going hungry, senior citizens worried about the cost of prescription drugs, and truck drivers worried about driving over fractured bridges,” Jones said.
Willing and ready to do his part, Jones said he is ready to serve as governor providing new goals, new possibilities and new leadership.
“I’m in the race to rebuild our infrastructure, to invest in healthcare, education, jobs, to extend access to rural broadband, and to give Arkansas the tools we need to successfully compete because all we’re asking for is a fair chance,” he said. “I’m in this race because all people of Arkansas deserve a voice at the table and a governor that listens. I’m in this race because I want to serve, I want to govern.”
Jones will be stepping out on faith, as he has never run for office before but prides himself on his faith and determination to execute change for the greater good.
Jones would be the first Black candidate for governor from the Democratic Party, he said.
Politics apparently runs in the family as Jones’ brother, Leon Jones Jr., who served as executive director of the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, is running for state attorney general.
“No governor has never looked like me. It’s going to be a challenge but one we can meet together,” said Jones, who added that he is going to work hard to earn the trust, support and votes of Arkansans. “I’m encouraged because Arkansans have a way of giving you a chance when you give them a chance.”
According to Jones, there has been a political divide over the past several years, and he is striving for new beginnings as his campaign kicks off with what he described as transparency and honesty about the bad but fighting to bring out the best.
Jones said he is asking voters to “ignore the noise” as other candidates may try to divide Arkansans during the election.
“To me, it isn’t about being perfect and it’s certainly not about being judgmental. It’s about justice and striving to be our best collective selves,” Jones said. “What we’ve been doing is not working for all Arkansans and it’s time to be different.”
Planting the seed of faith in his hometown first, Jones said he will need help and support in the way of donations to his campaign as well as help getting people registered to vote during the primary on May 24, 2022 and again during the General Election in November.
“If you think our best days are still ahead of us. If you believe in a better tomorrow, if you know that we can do this together, if you are ready for change and you are ready for Arkansas to lead, then join this campaign because that future starts today,” Jones said. “I believe we can bring that future to life. I believe it because I have faith in Arkansas. I have faith in you and you know what? It’s about time.”
Jones joins a handful of other Democrats who have announced their intentions to run for governor, including Anthony Bland, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2018. On the Republican side, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary and daughter of former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge have announced they are running.