Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark joins crowded race to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. David Scott
Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark has entered the race for Georgia's 13th Congressional District to challenge U.S. Rep. David Scott, the longtime Democratic incumbent who has said he is seeking reelection.
Clark's announcement Monday comes at a time when Scott, who received treatment for back problems in November, faces questions about his health. Scott, who has represented the metro Atlanta district since 2003, will celebrate his 80th birthday at the end of the month.
Clark originally decided to run for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives during the first Trump administration, setting her sights on a Gwinnett County seat that had been in Republican hands for over two decades. Clark ousted an incumbent to win the seat and went on to defend it in 2020, 2022 and 2024 – fending off a Republican challenger last year who was backed by Gov. Brian Kemp.
'I ran to be a voice for science and truth in the face of Republican disinformation and ever since I've been taking on the toughest fights for Georgia families,' Clark said in her campaign video.
Outside of her legislative duties, Clark is a microbiologist, mom, nursing school professor at Emory University and a podcast co-host.
Since she took office in 2019, Clark has introduced legislation that she said was intended to create a 'safer, healthier, more prosperous' state of Georgia. Clark is also a vocal defender of reproductive rights.
As a metro Atlanta native and longtime Lilburn resident, Clark says she has always nurtured a passion for science and health care. She grew up with parents who both worked in the medical fields, watching her father work as a doctor and mother as a nurse.
'I'll stand up to Trump and MAGA when they try to cut Medicare, destroy Georgia jobs and gut medical research into cancer and Alzheimer's,' Clark said in her video. 'And get to work building a stronger future for all of us, not just a powerful few.'
Clark isn't the only candidate hoping to steal Scott's seat. Former Gwinnett County Board of Education Chairman Everton Blair Jr. and state Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur have announced campaigns. Jonathan Bonner, Joe Lester and Simeon Nunnally are all also planning to run.
The primary election is set for next May.
Scott faced six Democratic challengers in 2024 but ultimately won the primary outright with nearly 58% of the vote.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
18 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump's federal law-enforcement crackdown ripples through D.C. neighborhoods
Advertisement The White House has credited Trump's crackdown with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the city's affairs. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The confrontation escalated on Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn't authorized to comment publicly. The probe could be used to bolster Trump's claims that the city is suffering from a 'crime emergency' despite statistics showing improvements. The mayor's office and the police department declined to comment. Stops are visible across the city Blocks away from where Yahyaoui had set up shop, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police stopped a moped driver delivering pizza. The agents drove unmarked cars and wore tactical vests; one covered his face with a green balaclava. They questioned the driver and required him to present documentation relating to his employment and legal residency status. No arrest was made. Advertisement The White House said there have been 450 arrests since Aug. 7, when the federal operation began. The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement and the president signed an executive order on Aug. 11 to put the police department under federal control for 30 days; extending that would require congressional approval. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump was 'unapologetically standing up for the safety of law-abiding American citizens.' Bystanders have captured some of the arrests on video. On Saturday morning, Christian Enrique Carias Torres was detained during a scuffle with ICE agents, and the footage ricocheted around social media. An FBI agent's affidavit said Carias Torres kicked one of the agents in the leg and another was injured when he fell during the struggle and struck his head on the pavement. A stun gun was used to subdue Carias Torres, who was charged Tuesday with resisting arrest. An alphabet soup of federal agencies have been circulating in the city. In the Petworth neighborhood, roughly 20 officers from the FBI, Homeland Security, Park Police and U.S. Marshals descended on an apartment building on Tuesday morning. A man extended his hands out a window while officers cuffed him. Yanna Stelle, 19, who witnessed the incident, said she heard the chatter from walkie talkies as officers moved through the hallways. 'That was too many police first thing in the morning — especially for them to just be doing a warrant," she said. More National Guard troops from other states are slated to arrive From his actions and remarks, Trump seems interested in ratcheting up the pressure. His administration has asked Republican-led states to send more National Guard troops. Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio have agreed to deploy a total of 1,100 troops to the city, on top of the 800 from the D.C.-based National Guard. Advertisement Resistance to that notion is starting to surface, both on the streets and in Congress. On Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Sam Liccardo of California introduced a bill that would require a report outlining the cost of any National Guard deployment unrelated to a natural disaster, as well as its legal basis. It would also require reporting on any Guard interactions with civilians and other aspects of the operation. Forty four Democrats have signed on in support, including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. While the measure stands little chance of passing while Republicans control the chamber, it's a sign of a wider Democratic response to Trump's unprecedented moves in Washington. 'Are L.A. and D.C. a test run for a broader authoritarian takeover of local communities?' Liccardo asked. He added that the country's founders were suspicious of 'executive control of standing armies.' Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that 'Democrats continue to side with criminals over law abiding Americans.' What kind of assistance will be offered? It's unclear what kind of help the National Guard will be able to provide when it comes to crime. 'The fact of the matter is that the National Guard are not law-enforcement trained, and they're not going into places where they would be engaged in law enforcement activity,' said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and consultant at AH Datalytics. 'So I don't know that it's fair to expect much of it.' Advertisement Trump declared in a social media post that his initiative has transformed Washington from 'the most unsafe 'city' in the United States' to 'perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour!' The number of crimes reported in D.C. did drop by about 8% this week as compared to the week before, according to Metropolitan Police data. There was some variation within that data, with crimes like robberies and car thefts declining while burglaries increased a bit and homicides remained. Still, a week is a small sample size — far from enough time for data to show meaningful shifts, Asher said. Referring to the month-long period that D.C.'s home rule law allows the president to exert control over the police department, he said: 'I think 30 days is too short of a period to really say anything.' Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman, Alanna Durkin Richer, Jacquelyn Martin and Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.
New York Post
18 minutes ago
- New York Post
Texas Dem Rep. Nicole Collier slept in state House, calls herself ‘political prisoner' for turning down escort after redistricting stunt
She's having a Capitol sleepover. Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) slept in the House chamber Monday into Tuesday after refusing to accept a state trooper escort, calling herself a 'political prisoner.' Republicans required their Democratic peers to have an escort to ensure they returned to the chamber on Wednesday following their two-week venture outside the state to thwart a GOP redistricting effort. 'I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts,' Collier, who is from Fort Worth, said in a statement, per NBC News. She accused Republicans of implementing a 'surveillance protocol' and posted an image of her kicking back on her swivelchair in the chamber with a sleeping mask and blanket to catch some Zs. Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) is in her seventh term of service in the Texas state House. AP Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) had called a special session this month to pass flood relief aid and redraw the state's congressional district lines to give them a five-seat pickup opportunity. In response, 57 Democrats fled the state, starting on Aug. 3, to scuttle the special session. Under Texas law, 100 of the legislature's 150 members are required to be present to allow for a quorum. On Monday, Texas Democrats returned to the state to allow a second special session to take place. They claimed that the decision to end their self-imposed exile was made because they succeeded in quashing the first special session, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) maneuvered to potentially neutralize Texas' line-drawing venture. Texas Democrats have been leading protests in the state against GOP redistricting efforts. AP Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit against the runaways. Now that the runaway Dems have returned, Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) required them to sign documentation pledging to be present for the Wednesday session. 'Members who have not been present until today for whom arrest warrants were issued will be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated DPS officer appointment,' Burrows said. All of the Dems agreed, except Collier. 'I will not agree to be in [Texas Department of Public Safety] DPS custody. I am not a criminal. I am exercising my right to resist and oppose the decisions of our government. So, this is my form of protest,' Collier said. She is in her seventh term in the Texas House chamber and previously led the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. Democrats have vowed to challenge the Texas GOP's redistricting effort in court. States typically redraw their congressional districts after the census each decade, though mid-decade redistricting is not entirely unprecedented.
New York Post
18 minutes ago
- New York Post
NYC voters sour on socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani in latest mayoral poll — but he's still the frontrunner
New Yorkers are seemingly starting to sour on the socialist upstart Zohran Mamdani, according to a new poll — that still showed the Democratic nominee holding onto his clear frontrunner status in the crowded mayoral field. The survey of 1,400 likely voters, conducted by Gotham Polling & Analytics for the AARP, showed respondents were split on their view of of the proud Democratic Socialists of America member. Nearly half of those polled, 47%, said they had an unfavorable view of Mamdani, and the same percentage had a favorable perspective of the pol, the survey found. In recent prior surveys, likely voters had a more positive opinion of Mamdani, with his unfavorability rating hovering in the 30% to low-40% range. Still, the latest poll, conducted on August 11, showed the Queens assemblyman handily securing nearly 42% of support, followed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo with 23%, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa with 16% and Mayor Eric Adams with just 9%. The poll comes nearly two months after Mamdani stunned the political world and trounced Cuomo's initial comeback bid in the Democratic primary. Cuomo, now running as an independent in the November general election, has since failed to make any real gains in the second act of his mayoral comeback tour. 3 Zohran Mamdani remains the frontrunner despite unfavorables rising in the latest poll. Michael Nigro Adams, who didn't run in the June primary and is attempting to snag re-election on an independent line, has failed failed to whip up double-digit support in recent polling. But cracks may be showing in Mamdani's status as the clear frontrunner. He has struggled to pull the party together to back him — as establishment Dems try to distance themselves from the unabashed socialist. 3 Andrew Cuomo maintained his second-place spot in the poll, but failed to make any real gains on the socialist frontrunner. Matthew McDermott 3 Mayor Eric Adams failed to crack double-digits in the latest poll. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to weigh in on the race and endorse her party's nominee so far, even taking shots at Mamdani's proposal to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy. Over the weekend, the governor — who is running for re-election next year — also ripped Mamdani's city-run grocery plan, saying she was for 'free enterprise' rather than government injecting itself into capitalism. The far-left lawmaker has also failed to garner support from other powerful Dems, such Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklyn lawmakers. The poll released Tuesday created a series of dropout scenarios, with voters asked who they would back if their top candidate halted his campaign. Mamdani, though, still ran roughshod over the field, pulling in more than 42% of support in each hypothetical scenario. 'Mamdani sits on a hard floor around forty percent but likely to have a firm ceiling below a majority – in a split field that's enough to stay ahead,' said Stephen Graves, the president of Gotham Polling & Analytics. 'Cuomo has the best path of the challengers, but even in a hypothetical one-on-one in an election that often favors lower-turnout, older electorates, he still trails by double digits,' Graves said. 'A disciplined persuasion campaign could still make this a race,'
