Jon Ossoff

Jon Ossoff, Congressman John Lewis, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson

Jon Ossoff is running the U.S. House special election in Georgia's 6th District in 2017. The election is to replace former Rep. Tom Price, who was "tapped by Donald Trump to spearhead the repeal of the Affordable Care Act as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Ossoff has emerged as a strong, vocal supporter of the Affordable Care Act and is earning the support of progressives nationwide, including civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis."

His campaign manager is Keenan Pontoni.

Background

Ossoff, 30, is a native of the 6th District and a graduate of both Georgetown University and the London School of Economics. As a high school student he interned for Rep. John Lewis and later served as an aide to Rep. Hank Johnson. Both are leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ossoff’s campaign lined up more than $250,000 in financial commitments from supporters

Ossoff served Georgia as a national security staffer in Congress for five years before leaving government for the private sector.

Since 2013, he has been the managing partner and CEO of a small business that produces investigations targeting corrupt officials and organized crime for international news organizations.

Ossoff has been active in Georgia politics since his youth and has managed or advised six winning Congressional campaigns in Georgia since 2006. His mother, Heather Fenton, is co-founder of NewPower PAC, an organization that works to elect women to local office across Georgia.

Over more than five years as a Congressional aide, Ossoff drafted and managed legislative initiatives that passed the House and Senate and helped to craft major defense and consumer protection legislation.

Ossoff participated six times in the Congressional appropriations process, helping deliver millions of dollars of education and transportation resources to Georgia, and he conducted Congressional oversight of the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2015, after entering the private sector, Ossoff led a team that secretly filmed and exposed more than 30 corrupt judges taking bribes in Ghana. This year, producing a documentary for the BBC, he led a team that exposed atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq.

JStreet PAC endorsement

In 2024 JStreet PAC endorsed Jon Ossoff.

Abrams connection

Busing people in from Michigan, North Carolina, New York, etc

Jon Ossoff enthusiasts are organizing buses from Michigan, New York, Washington, D.C, Maryland and North Carolina to help bring voters to the polls.

Here is the form they are using: [1]

Which came from this website: [2]

“This is a national race,” he added. “There will be resources coming from all over the country.”

The left-wing magazine The New Yorker writes:

"DuBose Porter, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, can’t endorse Ossoff by name with other Democrats still in the race, but his language strongly suggests that he favors the thirty-year-old. 'We have a number of candidates, but I think it will take a young, energetic visionary candidate to succeed,' he told me. 'This is a national race,” he added. 'There will be resources coming from all over the country.'"

Security clearance

Jon Ossoff has "repeatedly said he was a national security staffer for five years on Capitol Hill working for Rep. Hank Johnson, and his campaign this week issued a timeline saying he had 'top-secret' clearance for about five months of that time."

American Rising PAC "seized on the timeline in a video...accusing him of falsely claiming he had top-secret clearance for all five years, though there is no evidence he ever made that assertion." Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post wrote that Jon Ossoff "declaring himself a 'senior national security staffer' is also bit too much résumé puffery."

Ossoff called the criticism a “partisan smear by Washington super PACs” and said he worked for Johnson for five years “to keep our country and our state safe” with the military and intelligence agencies.

“I was granted a top-secret clearance by the U.S. Department of Defense to work on particularly sensitive programs,” said Ossoff. “I stand by my record – I will put up my national security qualifications and credentials against anyone else in this race.”

Kessler wrote: "Technically, Ossoff walks a very careful line. But the overall impression is misleading enough to merit a Pinocchio."

Fourth District Day of Resistance

Jon Ossoff attended the Fourth District Day of Resistance, an event sponsored by U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson "to rail against the incoming Trump administration and the GOP’s Congressional agenda."

Natural Resources Defense Council

In 2022 the Natural Resources Defense Council endorsed Senator Jon Ossoff.

Campaign Assistance

MoveOn.org "will be mobilizing its more than 15,000 members in Georgia’s 6th District to volunteer and vote for Ossoff and will be mobilizing progressives across the country to support the campaign through thousands of grassroots donations."

"According to a report by NPR, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is paying nine staffers to assist in Ossoff’s campaign. It’s also sponsored three focus groups within the 6th that will further study how to reach young voters, African-American voters and swing voters.

"DCCC spokesman Tyler Law told NPR that making a strong effort in the 6th for the special election will go a long way in future elections, too."

"Understanding that people are more than numbers, we have made a strategic decision to invest in qualitative research that will not only help up us in Georgia’s 6th District, but also inform our message to key groups of voters ahead of 2018. In order to learn lessons from last cycle and maximize our gains on an expanded battlefield, we must listen to real people and see what drives them to vote, and these focus groups are an important early step towards achieving that goal."

"It’s that same type of goal that’s motivated Daily Kos, a progressive online community, has been raising funds to help elect Ossoff. The platform has found huge success in doing so thus far with small donations, paired with over $250,000 in financial commitments from when he announced his bid.

"David Nir, the political director of Daily Kos, said that his platform picked Ossoff as the guy to back in the race partly because of Lewis’ endorsement. He told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that the endorsement was a big signal in the “winnable race.” He added that if Ossoff were to win, it would “send shockwaves” through the GOP."

Endorsed by Daily Kos Elections

Ossoff endorsed by "Daily Kos Elections," who raised over $1 million for Ossoff tweeted on 28 Feb 2017

Jon Ossoff was endorsed by Daily Kos Elections, who claimed on Twitter to raise over $1 million for Ossoff's campaign.

ActBlue fundraising excerpt:

"Want to fight back against Trump and scare the hell out of Republicans in Congress at the same time? Here's how: One of the first congressional election of the Trump era is going to be Georgia, for the seat of former GOP Rep. Tom Price, who resigned his seat to become Trump's secretary of Health and Human Services—aka the man who will lead the GOP's repeal of Obamacare.

"Flipping this seat from red to blue would send shockwaves through Congress—and replacing Trump's anti-Obamacare point man with a Democrat would be an amazing little cherry on top."

Endorsed by Democracy in Color

Founder of Democracy in Color Steve Phillips wrote a passionate endorsement of Jon Ossoff, writing in part:

"Over the next two weeks, we have an excellent opportunity to deal a powerful blow to the occupier of the Oval Office and his enablers in Congress. The April 18th special election in Georgia’s sixth Congressional District presents the first best chance for people across the country to help win a race that will reverberate through the halls of Congress, drive a bigger wedge between the White House and members of Congress and further stall the efforts of Republicans to roll back the progress of the past decade."

[...]

There are at least three things you can do in the next two weeks:

"Support Voter Turnout Work — Color of Change and the Southern Elections Fund are conducting voter turnout work specifically targeting African American voters. Contributing to their efforts will fill an important hole and provide a significant value-add.

"Give to Ossoff — He does have a boatload of money, but if he falls short of 50%, and the race goes to a June runoff, he will need a lot more money to carry him to June.

"Volunteer — DailyKos, which has spearheaded the national Ossoff support, has a handy volunteer sign-up tool you can plug into Taking Back Our Country

"Building political power in Georgia is critical to taking back our country over the next four years. In the Democracy in Color plan Return of the Majority, we show how Georgia is one of the Frontline States trending Democratic, and how we can win the Georgia governor’s office in 2018 and then capture its 16 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential race. Helping Ossoff prevail on April 18th is the first step toward turning this country around, and the results of our work will be felt far and wide."

Endorsed by Cory Booker

Cory Booker Endorses Jon Ossoff

Senator Cory Booker and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spearheaded a "national fundraising effort" for Jon Ossoff.

Endorsed by Moveon.org

Georgia members of MoveOn.org Political Action "have voted overwhelmingly to endorse Jon Ossoff in the U.S. House special election in the state’s 6th District with 93% of votes cast in favor of backing Ossoff, praising Ossoff’s commitment to protecting the Affordable Care Act."

John Lewis Endorses Jon Ossoff

“That this historically Republican district is now very competitive is another example of the powerful grassroots energy we’re seeing across the country resisting Trump’s agenda,” said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action. “Ossoff is the sort of progressive champion—strong on both racial justice and economic justice—who can channel that resistance energy into progressive volunteers and votes, and Republicans have done him a big favor with their plans to repeal the ACA and kick tens of millions of people off of their health care. Republicans in Washington are attempting to take away health care from millions, including an estimated 30,000 in Georgia’s 6th. If Republicans move forward with repealing the ACA, they’ll pay a political price in districts like this one for supporting Trump’s dangerous agenda.”

Endorsed by Women's March

The Women's March official Twitter account tweeted their endorsement of Jon Ossoff.

DSA connections

Blackman connection

[[File:Blackmanoooiu.jpg}thumb|300px]] In November 2021, days after Ossoff’s election to the US Senate, Daniel Blackman, a failed 2020 Democratic candidate for a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission, and a Democratic Socialists of America became President Biden’s choice to become Southeast regional administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Biden appointed Blackman to head an Atlanta-based EPA region covering six states. Blackman was recommended for the post by Senator Jon Ossoff.

“I am confident and expect that he will bring vision and focus to environmental protection in the Southeast region,” Ossoff said.

Our Revolution 2020

Our Revolution endorsed Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Wymer connection

Jon Ossoff with Eric Wymer.

YDS support

Young Democratic Socialists - UGA Facebook, April 6, 2017

Young Democratic Socialists - UGA supported Jon Ossoff's campaign.

Celebrate primary victory

Young Democratic Socialists - UGA shared Democratic Party of Georgia's photo.

The Democratic Party of Georgia got something right today: Jon Ossoff's showing in yesterday's jungle primary is a big deal. If we work together, we can pull the U.S. House just a little bit to the left this summer. Let's show Republicans all over the country that they only have two choices: they can protect working men and women from this reckless administration, or they can expect to lose their elections in 2018.

Socialist field director

Gabriel Shippy was Field Manager at Jon Ossoff for Congress.

Endorsed by Rep. John Lewis

Jon Ossoff uses a meme of Congressman John Lewis endorsing him as his "pinned tweet."

Endorsed by Rep. Stacey Abrams

“We must unify behind Jon today and invest in his campaign like our lives depend on it.” —Rep. Stacey Abrams, Georgia Democratic House Leader

MPAC intern

In 2022 Mennah Abdelwahab was a Muslim Public Affairs Council Congressional Leadership Development Program intern in Jon Ossoff 's office.

Film company produced films for Al Jazeera

After receiving criticism for producing films from his London-based investigative film company for Al Jazeera, Ossoff campaign’s full statement on Al Jazeera:

“Jon Ossoff’s company has produced films and video content for multiple clients and news organizations around the world, including Al Jazeera, since Jon became its CEO in 2013. In the last six months, the company’s productions have appeared on or have been acquired by the BBC (UK), RTL (Netherlands), DR (Denmark), TVN (Poland), SVT (Sweden), and TIM (Italy), in addition to Al Jazeera (Qatar).

Under Jon’s leadership, the company’s investigations have resulted in the arrest of foreign officials stealing U.S.-taxpayer-funded aid and quack doctors who mutilate women, as well as exposed atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq, including sexual slavery. Founded in 1991, the company has produced documentaries for dozens of international broadcast clients and was on the team that produced the Oscar-nominated film “Blood Diamond.”

Its productions for CNN have won two Emmy Awards. Jon condemns partisan attacks that appeal to fear and stands by his work as a journalist and businessman.”

Ghoreishi connection