Jon Ossoff

Jon Ossoff (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Georgia. He assumed office on January 20, 2021. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Ossoff (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Georgia. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.^[source]

Ossoff was a candidate in the 2017 special election to represent Georgia's 6th Congressional District. He qualified for the runoff election on April 18, 2017, receiving 48.1 percent of the vote, but was defeated by Republican Karen Handel on June 20, 2017, by a margin of approximately 3 points. The race was the most expensive in U.S. history and Ossoff raised more than $23 million in an attempt to flip the historically red district.

2020 battleground election

See also: United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)

Jon Ossoff won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Georgia outright on June 9, 2020, having received more than 50% of the vote. Media attention focused on Ossoff, Sarah Riggs Amico, and Teresa Tomlinson throughout the primary.

Ossoff's background included work as a legislative aide and an investigative journalist. He also ran in the 2017 special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District—the most expensive House race in history as of the 2020 primary. Ossoff said he had experience fighting corruption and that "we’re building a movement to mount an all-out attack on corruption in Washington." He also referred to the support his 2017 campaign garnered as equipping him to run for Senate.

Amico was executive chairwoman of her family's trucking company and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018. She said she was "the only candidate in this race who has been out there creating and saving thousands of jobs for more than 16 years" and that she won more votes than any other Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial candidate in the state's history.

Tomlinson, former mayor of Columbus, Georgia, said she was the only candidate "who’s ever won an election, and I’m the only one who’s ever served in elected office," saying that experience was needed to defeat an incumbent. Tomlinson said she had raised more money from Georgia donors than Ossoff. She said, "From the beginning, this battle has been Ossoff’s 2017 national fundraising network vs. our ‘For Georgians, by Georgians’ campaign."

Each of the candidates said they supported expanding Medicare and background checks on gun purchases. Each said they opposed open borders and abolishing private insurance from the healthcare system. Each also said they would not accept money from corporate political action committees.

Also running were Marckeith DeJesus, James Knox, Tricia Carpenter McCracken, and Maya Dillard Smith.

Incumbent David Perdue (R) was elected in 2014 with 53% of the vote to Democrat Michelle Nunn's 45%. Republicans held a majority in the Senate during the 116th Congress with 53 seats to Democrats' 45. Two independents caucused with Democrats.

Elections

2020

See also: United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (Perdue vs. Ossoff runoff)

United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)

United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)

General runoff election

General runoff election for U.S. Senate Georgia

Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent David Perdue in the general runoff election for U.S. Senate Georgia on January 5, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jon Ossoff (D)	50.6	2,269,923
		David Perdue (R)	49.4	2,214,979

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,484,902
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

General election for U.S. Senate Georgia

Incumbent David Perdue and Jon Ossoff advanced to a runoff. They defeated Shane Hazel in the general election for U.S. Senate Georgia on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Perdue (R)	49.7	2,462,617
✔		Jon Ossoff (D)	47.9	2,374,519
		Shane Hazel (L)	2.3	115,039

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,952,175
= 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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Darrell McGuire (Independent)
• Clifton Kilby (Independent)
• Elbert Bartell (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Georgia

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Georgia on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jon Ossoff	52.8	626,819
		Teresa Tomlinson	15.8	187,416
		Sarah Riggs Amico	11.8	139,574
		Maya Dillard Smith	8.8	105,000
		James Knox	4.2	49,452
		Marckeith DeJesus	3.9	45,936
	Submit photo	Tricia Carpenter McCracken	2.7	32,463

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,186,660
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Akhenaten Amun (D)
• Harold Shouse (D)
• Elaine Whigham Williams (D)
• Ted Terry (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Georgia

Incumbent David Perdue advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Georgia on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Perdue	100.0	992,555

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 992,555
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Jackson (R)
• Michael Jowers (R)

Candidate profile

Jon Ossoff

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography:  Ossoff received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and master's degree from the London School of Economics. He worked as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), as a journalist, and as a documentary producer. Ossoff ran in the 2017 special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.

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Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

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Ossoff referred to his background as an investigative journalist, saying, "Now we’re building a movement to mount an all-out attack on corruption in Washington — starting with President Donald Trump and Georgia Senator David Perdue."

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Ossoff said his 2017 special election campaign started a movement that he would build on in 2020.

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Ossoff said he believed "that women have a right to their own healthcare decisions; that our children deserve a clean, beautiful, healthy planet; that America's prosperity should guarantee all of us healthcare and a living wage; and that our democracy depends on defending every Americans' right to vote."

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Show sources

Sources: Jon Ossoff's 2020 campaign website, "Why I'm Running," accessed April 8, 2020, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ossoff to run for US Senate in Georgia," September 9, 2020, YouTube, "We Know How to Fight," September 10, 2020; Vote Smart, "Jon Ossoff's Biography," accessed April 8, 2020

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. Senate Georgia in 2020.

Polls

If you are aware of polls conducted in this race, please email us.

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election. It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees. The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Sarah Riggs Amico	Democratic Party	$2,150,529	$2,149,783	$746	As of December 31, 2020
Marckeith DeJesus	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Maya Dillard Smith	Democratic Party	$26,180	$24,430	$1,750	As of March 31, 2020
James Knox	Democratic Party	$300	$21,826	$3,534	As of June 30, 2020
Tricia Carpenter McCracken	Democratic Party	$10,470	$10,470	$2,162	As of July 15, 2020
Jon Ossoff	Democratic Party	$156,146,538	$151,814,804	$4,331,733	As of December 31, 2020
Teresa Tomlinson	Democratic Party	$2,918,566	$2,908,952	$9,614	As of December 31, 2020
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

Endorsements

This section lists endorsements issued in this election. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Click links below for endorsement lists from candidates' websites, where available.

• Teresa Tomlinson

Democratic primary endorsements
Endorsement	Riggs Amico	Ossoff	Tomlinson
Elected officials
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.)		✔
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)		✔
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)			✔
State Sen. Donzella James (D)		✔
State Sen. Michael A. Rhett (D)		✔
State Sen. Freddie Sims (D)			✔
State Sen. Lester Jackson (D)			✔
State Sen. Harold Jones (D)			✔
State Sen. Ed Harbison (D)			✔
State Sen. David Lucas Sr. (D)			✔
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D)			✔
State Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D)			✔
State Rep. Debbie Buckner (D)			✔
State Rep. J. Craig Gordon (D)			✔
State Rep. Al Williams (D)			✔
State Rep. Pat Gardner (D)			✔
State Rep. Calvin Smyre (D)			✔
Legislative Black Caucus Chair, State Rep. Karen Bennett (D)		✔
State Rep. Derrick Jackson (D)		✔
State Rep. Debra Bazemore (D)		✔
State Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague (D)		✔
State Rep. Rhonda Burnough (D)		✔
State Rep. Doreen Carter (D)		✔
State Rep. Shelly Hutchinson (D)		✔
State Rep. Sheila Jones (D)		✔
State Rep. Kim Schofield (D)		✔
State Rep. Erica Thomas (D)		✔
State Rep. Miriam Paris (D)		✔
Individuals
Former 2020 U.S. Senate candidate/former Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry		✔
Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes (D)			✔
Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland (D)			✔
Former U.S. Rep. Buddy Darden (D)			✔
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young			✔
Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Gordon Griffin			✔
Former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Sears			✔
Former state Sen. Jason Carter (D)			✔
Former state Sen. Gail Buckner (D)			✔
Former state Rep. Tom Sherrill (D)			✔
Organizations
Communication Workers of America-Georgia	✔
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 613	✔
Bricklayers Local 8 Southeast	✔
Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers	✔
Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council	✔
Leadership Now Project	✔
End Citizens United		✔
Women Leaders for the Environment			✔
Democracy for America			✔
National Organization for Women PAC			✔
Asian American Advocacy Fund			✔
National Women's Political Caucus			✔

2017

See also: Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, 2017

U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election Runoff, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Karen Handel	51.8%	134,799
	Democratic	Jon Ossoff	48.2%	125,517
Total Votes				260,316
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the June 20, 2017, special election runoff to represent the 6th Congressional District of Georgia.

It was the most expensive U.S. House race in history. The two campaigns, along with outside organizations, spent more than $50 million on the election. Although Handel held the advantage with outside groups spending money on the race, the Democratic effort to flip this congressional seat, which has been held by a Republican since 1979, began early. Ossoff raised $8.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, where recent Democratic candidates raised no more than $45,000 in the general election. In April and May, Ossoff raised an additional $15 million. Handel raised $4 million, relying on national political figures like President Donald Trump in May and Vice President Mike Pence in June to helm fundraisers. Although Handel's fundraising paled in comparison to Ossoff's, she outraised recent Republican candidates by more than $2 million.

Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that his party's investment in the race was part of a larger effort to improve party infrastructure across the country. "We're investing heavily here in the Georgia six race, but I'm traveling across the country. We're building strong parties everywhere. That's what we have to do because that's where we fell short in the past. We allowed our basic infrastructure to, you know, to atrophy and we have to build strong parties," he said. This spending was driven primarily by out-of-state contributions, which Handel and conservative outside organizations highlighted in critical campaign ads.

This special election was one of the first chances since 2016 for the Democratic Party to reduce the Republican House majority. When asked about the importance of the race, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R), who represented the district for two decades, told Ballotpedia, "I do think Republicans have to pay attention, and I think it would be a big mistake to allow this district to go to Ossoff, partly because of the psychology nationally, and partly because once a relatively talented person gets in office, it’s really hard to get rid of them."

The Democratic Party had not held Georgia's 6th District since before Gingrich's first election in 1978. However, Trump's victory margin of 1.5 percent over Hillary Clinton in the district in the 2016 presidential race signified that the district could be competitive. Comparatively, Mitt Romney (R) won the district by a margin of 23.3 percent in 2012, and John McCain (R) defeated Barack Obama (D) by 18 percent in 2008. Republicans suggested that Ossoff's failure to win in the district, despite an infusion of cash, was evidence that Democrats would not have electoral success in 2018.

Ossoff was a first-time candidate who previously worked in D.C. as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) for five years and as a documentary producer. Ossoff campaigned against Trump's policies and emphasized small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, and national security. He was characterized as more of a centrist than a progressive by New York Magazine, The Washington Post, National Review, and The New York Times. Handel, who served as the Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010, supported the Trump administration's position on healthcare and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, although she rarely mentioned the president by name while campaigning. She instead focused on promoting conservative principles and economic issues such as improving the tax code for small businesses.

This was the fourth congressional special election of the year and the third won by a Republican.

U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jon Ossoff	48.1%	92,673
	Republican	Karen Handel	19.8%	38,071
	Republican	Bob Gray	10.8%	20,802
	Republican	Dan Moody	8.8%	17,028
	Republican	Judson Hill	8.8%	16,870
	Republican	Kurt Wilson	0.9%	1,820
	Republican	David Abroms	0.9%	1,639
	Democratic	Ragin Edwards	0.3%	504
	Democratic	Ron Slotin	0.3%	491
	Republican	Bruce LeVell	0.2%	455
	Republican	Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan	0.2%	415
	Republican	Keith Grawert	0.2%	415
	Republican	Amy Kremer	0.2%	351
	Republican	William Llop	0.2%	326
	Democratic	Rebecca Quigg	0.2%	304
	Democratic	Richard Keatley	0.1%	229
	Independent	Alexander Hernandez	0.1%	121
	Independent	Andre Pollard	0%	55
Total Votes				192,569
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

Campaign themes

2020

Jon Ossoff completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ossoff's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I run a small business that exposes corruption, organized crime, and war crimes for news organizations worldwide. My wife Alisha is an OB/GYN physician, and we both grew up in Atlanta. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a Master's of Science from the London School of Economics. Before embarking upon my career in journalism and media production, I worked as a national security aide for Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, handling defense and economic policy. Since 2013, I have been the CEO of Insight TWI, a 30-year old media production company that produces investigations of corruption, organized crime, and war crimes that are broadcast internationally to a global television audience of hundreds of millions. In recent years, we have investigated and exposed sexual slavery of women and girls by ISIS, crooked judges, foreign officials who steal U.S-funded food and medical aid, contract killers, human traffickers, war crimes, and bribery.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Too many Georgians can't afford health care. The high cost is driven by the corrupt influence of the insurance and drug industries in Washington - a devastating product of our broken campaign finance system. In the U.S. Senate, I'll work to make quality health care a simple, affordable, and reassuring reality for ​all of us by supporting​ Medicaid expansion, a crackdown on price gouging, expansion of the U.S. Public Health Service, and federal investment in health clinics. I'll vote to add a nonprofit public option to the ACA exchange while defending every citizen's right to private insurance.
• Lobbying and political contributions should not buy bailout money, unfair subsidies, or impunity for labor and environmental abuses. But as long as money buys political influence, our government's policies will favor the most powerful special interests. The health insurance, pharmaceutical, and fossil fuel industries have bought the allegiance of my opponent, Sen. David Perdue, and he in turn has voted in their interests rather than Georgia's interests. I run a business that investigates bribery and the abuse of power worldwide. I'm not taking contributions from corporate PACs, and my first act in the Senate will be to back a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
• The government's financial safety net for Wall Street is vast & instantaneous, while help for ordinary people & smaller firms has been meager & slow. Rather than relying on subsidies for investment banks as economic stimulus & hoping benefits trickle down, I'll support policies that help Georgia's families make & save more money: fast & direct emergency relief during economic crises, lower taxes for all but the wealthiest, debt-free public college, free vocational training, & health care guaranteed at an affordable price. And to create millions of jobs, revitalize our economy, and alleviate poverty, I'll support a historic infrastructure program to lay the foundation for decades of prosperity, sustainability, and health.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about delivering a historic infrastructure & clean energy package to create millions of new, good-paying jobs & make the U.S. the world leader in renewable energy and sustainability. I'll push for big, overdue investments in transportation & transit, clean energy, energy efficiency, public health, communications, research & development, emergency response, & environmental cleanup. These investments will create job training & employment opportunities for millions of American workers & demand for products made by American businesses. They will revitalize our economy & lay the foundations for decades of prosperity, environmental sustainability, & health. Upgraded infrastructure will make life safer & more convenient, support commerce, attract investment, protect our environment, & improve our health. Money spent on infrastructure is truly an investment in America with positive returns across the economy & dramatic improvements to our quality of life.

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.

Campaign website

Ossoff’s campaign website stated the following:

“	The Economy The COVID-19 outbreak is causing enormous economic hardship. Tens of millions are losing jobs. Businesses are shuttered. Banks and landlords are threatening foreclosure and eviction. Essential workers are underpaid, underprotected, and underinsured. This crisis is laying bare structural inequity and corruption in U.S. economic policy. Similar to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, while hardship is concentrated among working- and middle-class families and smaller businesses, the fastest and biggest emergency relief has gone straight to the top. The government’s financial safety net for Wall Street is vast and instantaneous, while help for ordinary people and smaller firms has been meager and slow. Rather than relying on subsidies for Wall Street as economic stimulus and hoping the benefits trickle down, I’ll support policies that help Georgia’s families make and save more money: fast and generous direct emergency relief during economic crises, lower taxes for all but the wealthiest Americans, debt-free public college, free vocational training, and health care guaranteed at an affordable price. To create millions of jobs, revitalize our economy, and alleviate poverty, I’ll support the most ambitious infrastructure program in history. Upgraded infrastructure will serve as the foundation for decades of prosperity, sustainability, and health. Georgia is a growing economic powerhouse in agriculture, logistics, aerospace, technology, clean energy, and media. Georgia’s businesses and entrepreneurs are the crucial engine of job and wealth creation in our state. I’ll work to make tax and regulatory compliance simpler and more efficient for our businesses. I’ll expose and attack unfair and unethical trade, labor, and environmental practices by overseas competitors that disadvantage American workers and businesses. I’ll work to reduce our dependence on Chinese supply chains and strengthen domestic producers. I’ll support strong antitrust enforcement and I’ll attack anti-competitive special interest subsidies secured by dominant firms with lobbying power at the expense of smaller competitors and startups. These policies will support long-term prosperity, competitiveness, and strength. The health of the banking system is vital, but public funds and loans shouldn’t subsidize speculative short-term trading on Wall Street. That’s why I’ll vote to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, so Federal economic policy serves the long-term prosperity, stability, and financial security of families and productive enterprises, not short-term gains for investment banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms. Lobbying and political contributions should not buy bailout money, unfair subsidies, or impunity for labor and environmental abuses. But as long as money buys political influence, our government’s policies will favor the most powerful special interests, distorting the market to benefit the best connected people and businesses. That’s one of many reasons campaign finance reform is essential to our prosperity and competitiveness. I’ve dedicated my career to fighting corruption. I run a business that investigates bribery and the abuse of power worldwide. I’m not taking contributions from corporate PACs or Congressional lobbyists. As Georgia’s Senator, I will be accountable exclusively to the people of our state. Health Care This pandemic should be a massive wake-up call for those who doubt the necessity of ensuring all Americans have health insurance. The link between health and wealth must be broken. It is essential that every single American has great health care. And Georgia already faced a shocking health crisis, with among the highest rates of uninsurance and maternal mortality in the country. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll work to make great health insurance a simple, affordable, reassuring reality for all of us. Other countries have achieved this. So can we. Health insurance is too expensive and complex, and protections for women, young people, and pre-existing conditions are under attack. Few plans are available, premiums are high, surprise billing is frequent, and dealing with insurance companies can be a nightmare. Even today, in the midst of a massive health crisis, the GOP, led by David Perdue, is still working to rip health insurance from tens of millions of Americans. The GOP and David Perdue have also long planned to cut Medicare, putting health care for seniors at risk. I’ll vote to protect and strengthen Medicare, and I support offering all Americans a public health insurance option as an affordable alternative to private insurance. The public plan’s premiums will be affordable for all and there will be no deductibles for necessary care. Its coverage will be comprehensive — including preventative care, prescription drugs, dental, vision, hearing, mental health, and neonatal and postnatal care. Medicaid expansion and auto-enrollment of the uninsured will ensure all Americans are covered regardless of wealth. Your insurance will be your choice. Americans will be free to maintain exclusively private health insurance or to purchase supplemental private insurance on top of the public plan if they so choose. For those with private insurance, I’ll vote to strengthen the Affordable Care Act’s protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, women, and young people. Those protections remain under attack by the health insurance industry and their allies in the GOP. I’ll vote to crack down on price gouging by drug companies and make more generic medicine available. I’ll work relentlessly to deliver federal funds to build more health clinics and hire more health care workers across Georgia, especially in rural and underserved communities, and to solve Georgia’s shocking and shameful maternal health crisis. And I’ll introduce legislation to expand the U.S. Public Health Service so it can recruit, train, and deploy more medical teams to clinics across Georgia and the nation. Infrastructure I’ll push for an unprecedented American infrastructure program that includes big, overdue investments in transportation and transit, clean energy, energy efficiency, public health, communications, research and development, emergency response, and environmental cleanup. These investments will create job training and employment opportunities for millions of American workers and demand for products made by American businesses. They will revitalize our economy and lay the foundations for decades of prosperity, environmental sustainability, and health. Infrastructure is often taken for granted. It includes energy production and the grid, transit, roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, aviation, ports and waterways, communications, cybersecurity, water treatment and distribution, housing, and public health. Upgraded infrastructure will make life safer and more convenient, support commerce, attract investment, protect our environment, and improve our health. Strong, advanced infrastructure is also essential for resilient and effective emergency response – whether pandemic, natural disaster, national security, or the totally unexpected. Money spent on infrastructure is truly an investment in America, with positive returns across the entire economy and dramatic improvements to our quality of life. The Environment The health of the environment is vital to our own health, prosperity, and security. In the Senate, I’ll make energy and environmental policy on the basis of scientific evidence — not lobbying by polluters. We face an urgent environmental crisis as out-of-control pollution is fast changing the climate, destroying ecosystems, killing off species, and damaging human health. The scientific consensus is unambiguous: if pollution from fossil fuel combustion is not controlled, the consequences will be dire. We can meet our energy needs without destroying the environment — but only by rapidly transitioning to clean energy sources, dramatically reducing carbon emissions, and increasing energy efficiency. That’s why I’ll support a historic infrastructure plan that includes massive investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, and environmental protection. I’ll push for America to immediately re-enter the Paris Climate Accords — and then to lead negotiation of an even more ambitious climate treaty. I’ll work to reverse the Trump Administration’s rollbacks of clean air, clean water, and fuel economy standards — and then to strengthen them. I’ll push for fast advances in sustainability — including a rapidly phased-in ban on single-use plastics, strongly enforced treaties to protect oceans and fisheries, aggressive protection of endangered species and habitats, increased fines for spills and contamination, and stricter controls on toxic chemicals. Criminal Justice Reform Our criminal justice system should render justice and protect the public while upholding due process, civil rights and civil liberties, and equal protection under the law. Yet in the United States today, deep race and class disparities persist in policing, prosecution, and sentencing. Racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and abuse in detention and incarceration are widespread. We incarcerate tens of thousands guilty of non-violent, victimless crimes, destroying lives and incurring massive costs. The deck is stacked against defendants who lack money, while those with wealth and connections often secure special treatment or outright impunity. Our approach to punishment must respect the human dignity of incarcerated people and recognize that except for the most dangerous violent criminals, successful re-entry to society after incarceration is crucial for both the convicted and the public. Nevertheless, brutal and inhumane conditions prevail in our prisons and jails. Mandatory minimum sentencing, the drug war, and the misguided use of criminal enforcement as a response to addiction, mental illness, and poverty have contributed to mass incarceration that is a blight on our country. In the Senate I’ll support major criminal justice reforms — including stronger civil rights laws and due process protections, an end to mandatory minimum sentencing, banning private prisons, prison reform that raises conditions to humane standards, death penalty abolition, and cannabis legalization. I’ll also support more federal law enforcement resources to attack organized crime, human trafficking, racketeering, money laundering, fraud, espionage, and corruption. Roe v. Wade I am pro-choice. I believe that women, not the government, should control the private, personal, and complex decision whether to terminate a pregnancy. I run a business that investigates organized crime and corruption for news organizations worldwide. Our teams have gone undercover to expose how dangerous, unqualified, and unregulated abortion providers kill thousands of women in places where safe abortion services are not available legally. In the Senate, I will only vote to confirm federal judges who pledge to uphold Roe v. Wade. COVID-19 To contain this outbreak and prevent an economic depression, the Trump Administration’s gross incompetence must end. It didn’t have to be this way. The White House ignored the warnings and dismissed the threat. But accountability will have to wait for November. The immediate solutions are clear, but they must be implemented with the speed, competence, and focus demanded by a great challenge such as this. Congress and the Administration should focus on boosting the health response, shoring up Americans’ finances, and speeding up containment and adaptation so Americans can return to work and normal life as soon as possible. In the meantime, we must intensify short-term efforts to crack down on the spread. First, every effort must be made to boost hospitals and the health response. The key immediate vulnerabilities are inadequate ICU capacity, insufficient testing capacity, a shortage of medical equipment for respiratory critical care, and lack of protective gear for doctors and nurses. The lack of protective equipment is personal for me — my wife Alisha is a doctor here at an Atlanta hospital — but we’re all at risk when medical teams fall sick. The federal government should spend whatever it takes and cut through all the red tape to fill these gaps. (This effort should have begun in January.) Use the Army Corps of Engineers, military logistical and medical units, and the Defense Production Act as necessary to build hospital capacity and properly equip medical teams. Give governors whatever they need. Be transparent about how many additional beds, respiratory critical care units, and isolation wards will be built, where, and by when. Go fast! Second, shore up Americans’ finances. Millions are losing jobs. Families are staring over a financial cliff. This isn’t the time for partisan bickering and gridlock. Congress must immediately send generous emergency cash to tide over people and businesses. The fastest and most generous help should go to those who need it the most. And no secret slush funds or special favors for powerful corporations. We need complete transparency and rigorous accountability. The president’s dismissal of the Inspector General for the $2 trillion relief program just days after it was enacted is outrageous. A repeat of the bank bailout debacle would destroy what little public trust in government remains. Third, speed up containment and adaptation so we can find a “new normal” quickly and get back to work. Study countries that are seeing success. Equip medical experts to track the virus, defending privacy and civil liberties along the way. We have to know where the virus is and isn’t. That means widespread testing and free COVID-19 treatment (so no one is afraid to get tested). Isolate the virus. Establish clear policies for the self-quarantine of infected Americans until they are healthy. Tighten and enforce regulations to protect seniors from exposure. Reinforce strong hygiene. Implement widespread temperature checks. Mandate the routine disinfection of public spaces and surfaces. Finally, intensify short-term efforts to crack down on the spread. Our highest hopes are that these efforts are swiftly effective and the virus is less lethal than suspected. But severe illness is still spreading exponentially, and many hospitals are warning they’ll soon be overwhelmed. Governors and mayors should listen to them and slow down the virus by implementing strong distancing policies now, not later, including shelter-in-place orders where necessary. This buys time to build health care capacity and to develop therapies and vaccines. Social distancing at such scale cannot continue indefinitely. That is precisely why we must boost the health response and speed up containment and adaptation — so we can return to our lives without overloading hospitals and causing unnecessary deaths. We can do these things and defeat the virus together. This won’t last forever. But at minimum, the next few months are going to be hard. It is vital that the federal response become more effective and coherent. In 2014, my company investigated the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, where government mistakes cost lives. We can’t afford any more mistakes here. I truly don’t know if our elected officials in Washington realize how selfish and incompetent they look. The President has been negligent and erratic. Senators were briefed and adjusted their stock portfolios instead of preparing the public. They all have to get real now, and I pray for all our sakes they are successful. We’re still America. We have huge resources and brilliant people. Consider what we’ve achieved together when we‘ve brought to bear all that we must: the miraculous industrial mobilization of World War II, the New Deal, the Apollo program. We’re still Americans. This is what we do. Let’s get to work! Education We all want and we all deserve the basics in life: a steady job that pays a living wage and helps us save for retirement, good health care, a nice home, and a great education for ourselves and for our kids. But in America today, equality of opportunity isn’t a reality — and in so many ways that inequality starts in our educational system. To improve the quality of primary and secondary education, I support increasing teacher pay and breaking the link between a community’s wealth and the funding available for its public schools. When discussing higher education, the national political debate tends to focus on four-year college degrees. We need greater emphasis on vocational training. For someone currently making $10 an hour without benefits, a commercial driver’s license or a welding certificate can be life-changing. That’s why in the Senate I’ll work to make trade school and vocational training free for every American. And I’ll work to make four-year degrees at our public colleges 100% debt-free. So many Americans today are held back by student debt — can’t start a business, start a family, or buy a home — because they can’t keep up with student loan payments. But the cost of education shouldn’t hold us back. Education should expand our opportunities. I support a generous forgiveness program for those struggling to pay off their student loans, caps on interest rates to relieve financial stress for all borrowers, and a program that links Federal student loan payments to income so paying off student loans is never a financial hardship. Gun Safety Reforms A clear majority of Georgians support reforms to reduce injuries and deaths from gun violence while protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms. I support the Second Amendment and I respect the overwhelming majority of gun owners who recognize that guns aren’t toys; they are lethal and dangerous tools. Firearms possession comes with great responsibilities for safe ownership, storage, and use. The shocking level of gun violence in America today makes plain the need for gun safety reforms, which will not preclude any responsible and qualified American from owning firearms for home defense, hunting, marksmanship, collection, or recreation. I support universal criminal history checks for gun purchases, red flag laws to protect family members and domestic partners concerned about the mental health of their loved ones, and closing the gun show loophole. I support a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles (“assault weapons”) and high-capacity magazines to the general public. Americans who would purchase high-powered weapons derived from modern military technology should be required to demonstrate high qualification and compelling specific needs. Most gun owners are responsible, qualified, and own weapons in good faith. However, the only objective of the firearms industry lobbyists is to drive up gun sales and enrich shareholders — even at the expense of public safety and common sense. I’m not taking a dime from the gun lobby, and I’ll fight to end their corrupt influence in Washington. Immigration My mother is an immigrant. She came to this country when she was 23 because she believed in the American Dream, and she’s lived it. She became a successful entrepreneur, a U.S. citizen, and an active participant in our democracy. Our country, like any country, must know and control who crosses our borders, and strong border security doesn’t require us to sacrifice our moral principles, our commitment to human rights, or our American identity as a haven for people fleeing persecution and striving for opportunity. Ripping children from their parents and disappearing them into federal custody is an atrocity. I’ll support an immigration policy that strengthens our borders, puts American workers first, respects human rights, and creates a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who are already here and otherwise follow the law, especially those brought here as children. We must reform the horrifically dysfunctional Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that these agencies carry out their duties with competence and humanity. And instead of making life hell for migrants, immigration enforcement should crack down on the employers of undocumented immigrants, like The Trump Organization. LGBTQ Equality In the Senate, I’ll fight for equal rights and equal protection under the law for all Americans, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. I will defend marriage equality and the right of gay couples to adopt children. I will support the Equality Act and vote to expand Federal anti-discrimination statutes to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. I will oppose efforts to re-impose the ban on military service by openly gay Americans. Any American’s desire to serve and defend their country should be honored without discrimination. I’ll support strengthening anti-bullying programs for LGBTQ youth, and I will defend and support the safety and human rights of transgender Americans. The LGBTQ community will be able to count on me to stand with them as a strong and outspoken ally.	”
—Jon Ossoff's campaign website (2020)

Campaign ads

"Conversation with Rep. John Lewis" - Ossoff campaign ad, released May 26, 2020

"Calling on You" - Ossoff campaign ad, released May 26, 2020

"Heroes" - Ossoff campaign ad, released April 20, 2020

"Investigate David Perdue" - Ossoff campaign ad, released April 7, 2020

"Save Lives During the COVID-19 Outbreak" - Ossoff campaign ad, released March 17, 2020

"We Know How to Fight" - Ossoff campaign ad, released September 10, 2019

A sample ad from the candidate's Facebook page is embedded below. Click here to see the candidate's Facebook Video page.

2017

The following issues were listed on Ossoff's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Our Economy: Jon is a small business owner, executive, and entrepreneur — the CEO of a company that produces documentaries investigating organized crime and political corruption. He knows what it means to grow a company, meet a payroll, and balance budgets. Jon has a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, where he specialized in trade relations between the US and China. Health Care: It is in our strong national interest that every American have quality, affordable health care. Whether it’s a newborn just home from the hospital, a mother battling cancer, or a veteran returned from overseas, our health isn’t negotiable. Our quality of life, our strength, and our prosperity depend on it. Civil Liberties & Civil Rights: Throughout our history, patriots, abolitionists, civil libertarians, suffragettes, and civil rights heroes have made huge sacrifices to advance liberty and justice for all. We should continue striving together toward a more perfect union. Jon will fight for our civil liberties to ensure that every American is free to determine the course of their own life so long as they don’t harm others. Jon will oppose cynical attempts by politicians to win elections by undermining Americans’ hard-fought, sacred voting rights. Women’s Health & Planned Parenthood: Jon will defend women’s access to contraception and a woman’s right to choose and fight any legislation or executive action that would allow insurance companies to discriminate against women. National Security: Jon is a former national security professional who understands the threats America faces and the complexity of international politics. When he was a national security staffer on Capitol Hill, Jon held a top secret security clearance and worked with our military and intelligence community to keep Georgians safe. In Congress, Jon will push for a tough, smart foreign policy that protects our national security while avoiding reckless, destabilizing missteps like the Iraq War.	”
—Jon Ossoff's campaign website

Career

• Present: Managing director and CEO of Insights TWI, a filmmaking company that produces documentaries focused on international investigative journalism.
• 2010-2012: Campaign staffer serving as deputy communications chief and campaign manager for Johnson.
• 2010-2012: Senior legislative assistant to Johnson.
• 2007-2010: Legislative correspondent to Rep. Hank Johnson (D).
• 2005: Intern for Rep. John Lewis (D).

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

It was reported on May 7, 2017, that Ossoff was engaged to marry Emory University medical student Alisha Kramer.

See also

2020 Elections

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Footnotes

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Georgia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Jon Ossoff (D)

Raphael Warnock (D)

Representatives

District 1

Earl Carter (R)

District 2

Sanford Bishop (D)

District 3

Brian Jack (R)

District 4

Hank Johnson (D)

District 5

Nikema Williams (D)

District 6

Lucy McBath (D)

District 7

Rich McCormick (R)

District 8

Austin Scott (R)

District 9

Andrew Clyde (R)

District 10

Mike Collins (R)

District 11

Barry Loudermilk (R)

District 12

Rick Allen (R)

District 13

David Scott (D)

District 14

Vacant

Republican Party (8)

Democratic Party (7)

Vacancies (1)