Augusta's District 1 Commissioner Jordan Johnson launches re-election campaign

Augustans will be seeing multiple elections this summer and work is already underway.

Augusta Commissioner Jordan Johnson launched his re-election campaign with a barbecue at the Julian Smith Casino on Friday. Johnson represents District 1, which covers downtown Augusta, east Augusta, and much of the surrounding area.

"I believe that we've made tremendous progress in the district since I took office in 2021 and I would like the opportunity to continue the work that we began," he said.

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Johnson explained how he first got into this position because he wanted to address the issues he saw in his neighborhoods growing up as a life-long Augustan. Addressing homelessness and infrastructure have been big issues, which led to him co-chairing the Augusta Homeless Task Force.

The commissioners serve as major points-of-contact for the troubled residents of their respective district. In this respect, Johnson has heard many stories from those in need of help through calls, meetings and neighborhood walk-throughs.

"I still can hear constituents crying about being put out of their homes because they just didn't have enough money to cover the rent. I've had calls about 14-year-olds being shot in my community," he said. "I couldn't tell you the amount of calls I've gotten that just still ring in my head and it just always reminds me of the work that's yet to be done."

Qualifying starts on March 4. Some of the other local seats up for re-election include four other seats on the Augusta Commission, Civil Court Marshal and Judge of the State Court. Election Day is May 21.

There are more local positions up for grabs this year with different qualifying and election dates like Richmond County Sheriff and five seats on the Richmond County Board of Education.

For more information, go to augustaga.gov.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta District 1 Commissioner Jordan Johnson running for re-election