ATLANTA — Former state representative and DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones has announced he’s running to be Georgia’s next Secretary of State.

In his announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Jones said his campaign will focus on election integrity, calling for stronger voter ID laws, limits on mail-in voting, and the protection of paper ballots.

“We need a secretary of state that will fight for people’s ballots, limit mail-in voting, and enforce strong voter ID laws, because election integrity starts with common sense,” Jones said.

Jones, a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2021, joins a growing field of candidates vying to replace outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The Republican primary field includes Gabe Sterling, who left the Secretary of State’s Office in August, and Air Force veteran Kelvin King. Judge Penny Brown Reynolds is running for the position as a Democrat.