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Kenneth Jones (New Jersey)
Kenneth Jones (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 20. Jones lost in the Democratic primary on June 4, 2019.
Jones completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2019
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 (2 seats)
Incumbent Annette Quijano and incumbent Jamel Holley defeated Charles Donnelly and Ashraf Hanna in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Annette Quijano (D) | 40.9 | 14,373 |
| ✔ |  | Jamel Holley (D) | 38.7 | 13,612 |
 | Charles Donnelly (R) | 10.6 | 3,727 | |
 | Ashraf Hanna (R) | 9.8 | 3,441 | |
| Total votes: 35,153 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 (2 seats)
Incumbent Jamel Holley and incumbent Annette Quijano defeated Kenneth Jones in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamel Holley | 45.4 | 8,917 |
| ✔ | | Annette Quijano | 43.9 | 8,616 |
| Kenneth Jones | 10.7 | 2,111 | ||
| Total votes: 19,644 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 (2 seats)
Charles Donnelly and Ashraf Hanna advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 20 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charles Donnelly | 51.7 | 822 |
| ✔ | | Ashraf Hanna | 48.3 | 767 |
| Total votes: 1,589 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kenneth Jones completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Jones' responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
This is tough because I have quite a few priorities. I want to concentrate on reducing the risk for our youth and offering safety measures in schools. I want to focus on the rights and welfare of our seniors who is the most vulnerable in our society. I want to invest in our infrastructure considering it needs to be maintain and redevelop in the neighborhoods.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I am personally passionate about public health, safety, and education. I believe by establishing progressive legislation we can create tangible solutions to address the drug epidemic in our communities and the importance of a quality education for our youth, including class size, teacher selection, teacher pay, teaching methods, and condition of school infrastructure. In addition, I am passionate about job creation and economic growth. I believe New Jersey will benefit with long-term economic opportunities.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
I have to say Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because he stood up and fought for justice. I remember Dr. King for his humanity, leadership and his love for people. The way I see it, integrity has a large effect on what we think, say and do.
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
If you really want to understand the political philosophy, you need to go straight to the U.S. Constitution. The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution of the United States established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. I recommend everyone to read and study their constitution.
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Most important characteristic is to work hard and to be fair and transparent and to promote integrity.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
The qualities I possess that I believe would make me a successful officeholder is someone who has integrity, organizing skills and love for humanity.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
When I consider issues, I think about local and national policies. The most important qualities is in integrity. I believe in doing the right thing for our society and having strong moral principles and being honest.
What legacy would you like to leave?
The best legacy to leave is that people felt like you were honest, consistent and I had their best interest at heart.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
The first historial event was when Obama became the 44th president, and the first African American to be elected to that office and I was 48 years old.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
My first job was delivering newspaper when I was an adolescent. I distributed printed newspapers to homes of subscribers on a regular route, usually walking and I did this for four years.
What happened on your most awkward date?
If you don't know what to talk about with women when you're out on a date you're going to experience some “awkward silences”. I believe I had that moment when I was a teenager.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
The holiday season has always been my favorite time of the year for more reasons than just one. Christmas is by far the best holiday in terms of giving and time with family.
What is your favorite book? Why?
The Bible is my favorite book. The Bible holds a wealth of engaging, enlightening, and immensely gratifying books that can deepen my faith.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?
I would like to be Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet because they were fighters for the good.
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
My favorite thing in my home is pictures and paintings because they are worth a thousand of words. They speak to who you are and what you love.
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
The last song that was stuck in my head was Marvin Gaye, "What is going on".
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
There are so many things that can't be bypass in life and life struggle is one of them, no matter how strong or rich you are, there will be a point where you will have a struggle in life, but your inner strength will help you overcome.
Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. The opportunity to past legislation that is in the best interest in your communities.
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
No
What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
My state greatest challenges are taxes, education and immigration.
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?
The ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature is a great relationship.
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
Yes, I believe it is beneficial to build relationships with other legislators because we are all working together for one common cause to serve the people.
What process do you favor for redistricting?
What I favor in redistricting is fairness and quality.
If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
If I am not a current legislator, the committees I will like to be a part of is education.
If you are a current legislator, what appealed to you about your current committees?
If I am a current legislator, what appeal to me about my current committees are diversity and multicultural.
If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?
Yes, I will be interested in joining the leadership in administration.
Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
I will like to model myself after Senator Chuck Schumer.
Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?
No, not at this time.
Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?
Yes, I met a mother who stated when her daughter started college, she called her crying one evening. She stated she was not able to compete with the other students. The mother believes the high school her daughter attended was overcrowded, underfunded and lack resources to prepare her daughter for higher education.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
