Annotated intros from the Farm Bureau candidate forum.
Incumbent State Senator John Albers (left) and challenger JD Jordan (right) at the April 25 candidate forum & meet and greet event sponsored by the Farm Bureau & the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce. Photos and videos shot and shared by a Cherokee resident in audience, stabilized and annotated by JD Jordan.
On April 25, the Farm Bureau & the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum at Canton’s historic courthouse. Incumbents and challengers from a variety of races had a chance to introduce themselves to voters and to debate a variety of audience-suggested topics.
Fortunately for the 56, both our incumbent, John Albers, and I were in attendance. And doubly so that someone in the audience captured the full exchange on their phone!
Over the course of the next two weeks, I’ll share the exchanges from this forum, covering:
In addition to simply sharing these videos, I’ve spent time fact-checking each of our statements and unscripted responses. I’ve performed this critique for two reasons:
Honesty and transparency are cornerstones of a healthy constituent experience and critical to establishing and maintaining trust between members of the public and their elected officials (candidates, too!)
To show I’m open to being fact checked, interested in feedback where I might be further informed, and open to the conversations such critiques may inspire.
If you see an errors in my critique or if you know of a data point I haven’t found, please reach out at me at jdjordan@forthe56.com and I’ll do my best to follow-up and—if necessary—make and note any corrections.
Annotated videos
Candidate introductions
Each candidate was given 1:30 to introduce themselves. Presentations were made in alphabetical order, with John Albers presenting first and JD Jordan presenting second.
Annotated transcript
John Albers: An introduction
Thank you, Pam. Great to see everyone tonight.
It's been my honor to represent Cherokee County for the last 14 years.
There's more to it.
Since the 2020 redistricting, State Senate district 56 contains a significant portion of Cherokee County, mostly in the Woodstock and Holly Spring areas. But before 2020, only a very small number of Cherokee precincts were in district.
We used to live right off East Cherokee Drive.
True.
A quick Internet search confirms Albers’ and his wife used to live in Woodstock.
We proudly served as a Hickory firefighter,
Misleading.
According to public records, John Albers has maintained his volunteer firefighter certification for several years but there’s no available documentation of him ever serving.
was a Boy Scout leader at First Baptist of Woodstock,
False.
According to Albers’ former Boy Scout Troop leader, John Albers never completed the Youth Protection Training required for all scout leaders.
and embedded in this community. Have so many good friends here today.
Thank you again to The Farm Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce. Cherokee County is special, as is Georgia. So different from the rest of the nation.
Unclear.
While Cherokee County is clearly its own thing, it’s unclear what differences John Albers is referring to.
While people are leaving en mass from states like California, Illinois, New York, and others, they're moving to the Southeast, to Georgia, to Florida, Tennessee, and others.
True.
A lot of folks have moved to the Southeast since the 2020 Pandemic. Georgia offers a lower cost of living than many other states, making it an attractive location for retirees, young professionals, and families. The state's housing costs are lower than the national average, and there is no state tax on retirement income. We also have better weather, more suburban and rural living opportunities, and a robust business and job market.
And while we welcome our new friends with open arms, we always want to remind them, don't vote in the problems you’ve just escaped from.
Unclear.
It’s unclear what problems John Albers is referring to. And it's pretty condescending, how he says it.
We have something very unique here in Cherokee County and in Georgia and we need to preserve and protect that.
Unclear.
Again, of course Cherokee County and Georgia are unique—as are all states and counties. Unless it’s the status quo, it’s unclear what John Albers wants to preserve and protect.
Good conservative leadership has led us to be the number one place for business for the last 10 years.
Misleading.
Incumbent state legislators love quoting this statistic but it’s misleading AT BEST. While it’s true, Georgia has earned the rank of “No. 1 State for Business” from the corporate site selection and relocation magazine, Area Development, for 10 consecutive years (Area Development), it is also true that more noteworthy media outlets place Georgia lower in their rankings (Forbes, for example).
We are the best place to live, work, play, and raise a family and we're going keep it that way.
False.
I love living here, but we need to be honest: Georgia ranks worst in the country for healthcare (Forbes), our maternal mortality rate is among the worst in the nation (Emory University & The National Center for Health Statistics), our public schools are victim to divisive topics laws and book bans (ALA), and the price of food and housing is so inflated, our kids can’t afford to live here after they graduate.
Focusing on public safety,
Unclear.
During John Albers’ tenure as chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, Georgia incarcerated more of its residents than any democracy on Earth (Southern Center for Human Rights). Not sure I’d brag about that.
reducing the 45-year-high Joe Biden inflation,
Dishonest.
Inflation rates are high—and painful—but anyone telling you there’s only one reason for it isn’t being honest with you. The Inflation we’re currently experiencing is the result of the global pandemic and global supply-chain disruptions, domestic labor and housing market disruptions, violent conflicts in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza, and—more than any other factor at 53% of inflation—corporate profits (Fortune). Meanwhile, the US inflation rate is down dramatically since 2022 and the US has one of the lowest inflation rates or any developed country (Newsweek).
and making sure that here in Georgia, we continue to balance your budget each and every year.
True.
Passing a balanced budget is the only legislation the General Assembly is legally mandated to pass each year, whether Democratic or Republican. Not to say passing a balanced budget is easy, but John Albers is basically bragging about doing the bare minimum.
And we've given money back to the taxpayers.
True.
Georgia has a $16 billion tax surplus and state law allows up to 15% of that to be used for rebates, pay raises, and other methods of returning tax dollars to state employees and residents. Additionally, under Lt Gov and State Senate President Burt Jones, efforts have been made to further lower Georgia’s tax rates.
We've refunded billions of dollars because government doesn't have any money, they have yours and mine.
Oversimplification.
Like the inflation issue, government monies are multivariate in origin. In 2024, 50% of Georgia’s revenues came from income taxes (45% from personal income tax, 5% from corporate income tax), 26% from sales tax, 13% from other taxes (e.g. vehicle titles, insurance premium taxes, etc), and 11% from designated funds (Georgia Budget & Policy Institute).
And you can continue to count on that consistent leadership for years to come. It is my honor to serve you as your senator. Thank you.
Annotated transcript
JD Jordan: An introduction
My name is JD Jordan. I am the father of five children in a blended household,
True.
My amazing wife Ellie and I have five children, aged 13–18 (at the time of writing).
I'm a novelist,
True.
My scifi western novel, Calamity, is available in paperback and audiobook everywhere. The audiobook is excellent.
I'm a small business owner who works as a product designer by day,
True.
My experience-design consulting business, Sharpen Partners, works with startups and enterprise businesses to bring new products and business-intelligence tools to market.
I'm a stage three cancer survivor,
True.
In 2017 I was diagnosed with stage-3 colo-rectal cancer and successful treated by healthcare teams in the Northside and Emory Hospital Networks. As of this past March, I’m seven years cancer free.
And today I'm here to talk to you because I'm also running to better represent State Senate District 56, which includes Roswell, East Cobb, and Woodstock.
I do think it's important to introduce myself a little bit as a challenger. I am a longtime Georgia resident since I was nine years old.
True.
When I was nine years old, we moved from Charlotte, NC to Sandy Springs.
I grew up in a socially-liberal but very fiscally-conservative household.
True.
My parents have been life-long Republicans and Independents, an example I followed for many years as a young adult.
I went to religious schools, I went to a very conservative college in central Virginia but I did get my graduate degree from the University of Georgia so, “Go dawgs.”
True.
I was in the first graduating class at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in 1995, I graduated with a BA in history from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 1999, and with an MA in US-Middle Eastern Foreign Policy History from the University of Georgia in 2007.
And I'm very proud in continuing to be a small businessperson to this day who employs folks both in Atlanta as well as in Roswell.
There's more to it.
Sharpen Partners isn’t quite two years old and my Midtown-based business partner and I are the only fulltime employees. At our current scale, we also employ a variety of design and software-development contractors and hope to add employees as we grow the business.
What motivated me to run for office and what motivated my family as well—this is really a whole effort and anyone who's ever campaigned knows that our wives and children do this as well—is a response to government overreach on the part of the state legislature into our private lives, our personal lives as parents and the ability we have to bring up our children so that we can launch them well into life.
True.
John Albers was one of several state senators who sponsored SB 140, a senate bill which became law that removed all parental and familial choice in pursuing gender-affirming care for transgender minors and which negated all forms of consent offered by youth, parents, guardians, or family members (GA legislature). This legislation directly impacted our trans-identifying children’s access to lifesaving healthcare (Appen Media).
Also, because of my experience working in customer experience and user experience, I feel I'm really well equipped to bring more transparency and a superior constituent experience to everyone in the district than we're currently enjoying.
True.
As a user-experience professional, I possess expertise in designing user-centric systems in response to user needs, prioritizing ease of use, accessibility, efficient interaction, and communication—all things woefully lacking in our current state legislature, especially from our difficult-to-reach incumbent, John Albers.
JD JORDAN FOR GEORGIA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 56
For anyone in East Cobb, Roswell, or Woodstock alarmed by the state’s escalating attacks on our bodies, our families, our doctors’ offices, our classrooms and libraries, even our polling places, I’m running for state senate district 56 to fight for our freedoms and to deliver a better future for everyone in Georgia.
And unlike my opponent who’s spent 14 years rolling back our freedoms, failing to safeguard our kids, and gerrymandered his district to stay in office, 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, CONTACT
Jordan For Georgia, LLC
10800 Alpharetta Hwy Ste 208 #629
Roswell, GA 30076-1467
jdjordan@forthe56.com
706.804.0456
