Jen Jordan

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Jen Jordan
Jen Jordan (40898488563).jpg
Member of the Georgia Senate
from the 6th district
Assumed office
December 15, 2017
Preceded byHunter Hill
Personal details
Born
Jennifer Lyn Auer

(1974-10-17) October 17, 1974 (age 47)
Jacksonville, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Lawton
Children2
EducationGeorgia Southern University (BS)
University of Georgia (JD)

Jennifer Auer Jordan (born October 17, 1974)[1] is an American lawyer and politician who has represented District 6 in the Georgia State Senate since December 15, 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party.[1]

Early life[]

Jennifer Lyn Auer[2] was born on October 17, 1974,[3] at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Winona Giddens Purser and Michael James Auer. Michael had been stationed at Camp Lejeune since high school. When she was in kindergarten, her parents divorced. After the divorce, Winona moved to Eastman, Georgia, with her two children, Jen and Jessica. Winona was employed as a hairdresser, and the family lived in a small apartment.[4]

Education[]

Jordan attended Dodge County public schools for kindergarten through twelfth grade.[5] She received her bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern University and her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law.[1] During her time at law school, Jordan was a member of the Georgia Law Review and of the school’s award winning moot court team. She is a master with the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court.[6]

Legal career[]

After graduating from law school, she worked as a federal clerk for judge Anthony Alaimo of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.[7]

From 2002 to 2004 she was an attorney with Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore LLP in Atlanta.[3] From 2004 to 2008 she was a trial attorney with the Barnes Law Group.[3] During her time at the Barnes Law Group, Jordan was part of the team to litigate Perdue v. Lake, a constitutional challenge to Georgia's 2006 Voter ID Law.[8]

From 2010 to 2014 she served as Of Counsel for the Bird Law Group Professional Corporation.[3] From 2013 to 2015 she ran her own law firm The Jordan Firm.[3] Since 2015 she has been a partner with Shamp, Jordan, & Woodward in Atlanta.[3] In 2018, Jordan won the Golden Rule Insurance Company case, against an insurance agency that that claimed that breast cancer was a pre-existing condition and refused to cover treatments, for an insured patient.[9]

Political career[]

Georgia state senate[]

2017 Campaign for Georgia State Senate District 6[]

In 2017, Jordan beat 7 competitors to compete in a runoff election against Democrat Jaha Howard for the Georgia State Senate's 6th district after Hunter Hill resigned in order to run for governor.[10] Jordan promised she would raise the minimum wage in Georgia to $10.10 per hour and give local municipalities the power to set their own wage standards.[11]

On December 5, 2017, she defeated Howard. Her victory in this election ended what had been a Republican supermajority in the State Senate.[10][12] Jordan defeated Howard by having 10,681 votes (64%), while Howard had only 6,017 votes (36%).[10]

Voting Rights[]

In early 2021, Jordan was outspoken in her opposition to SB 202, claiming that the bill amounted to a "hostile takeover of local elections boards."[13] When companies began to boycott Georgia after the bill was passed, Jordan said that she would rather have "people and companies in this state use their economic power for change than not come here at all."[14]

Environmental Justice and Sterigenics[]

Jordan's District, which includes a broad swath of the Northern Atlanta suburbs, includes a medical sterilization plant called Sterigenics. In 2019, testing revealed that neighborhoods around the plant were experiencing spikes in the amount of Ethylene-oxide, a chemical which can cause cancer, in the air.[15] Jordan sent information about the situation to Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr, asking for their help in resolving the situation in August 2019.[16] In September 2019, she sued the Georgia Environmental Protection Division in response to a consent order which permitted the plant to continue operating with some limitations despite releasing toxins, arguing that the company had unlawfully entered into an agreement which endangered her neighbors and constituents with the EPD.[17]

A temporary restraining order issued on April 1, 2020 allowed the plant to resume full operations despite the pending lawsuit due to increased need for medical sterilization during the COVID-19 epidemic.[18] On April 8, 2020 a federal judge issued a consent order allowing the plant to continue indefinitely under the terms of the restraining order. Jordan has cited the Sterigenics lawsuit, and Chris Carr's refusal to become involved, as reasons that she is running for Attorney General.[19]

Jordan sitting next to Bee Nguyen while discussing abortion laws. (May 15, 2019)

Abortion[]

Georgia House Bill 481 was a bill that would have outlawed abortions 20 weeks after conception, in violation of Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood.[20] Jordan opposed the bill; giving a speech about her own experiences with pregnancy loss and prenatal medical care and asking Republican lawmakers not to "insert [themselves] in the most personal, private, and wrenching decisions that women make every single day."[21]

Following her speech against the bill, she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in order to prevent Senate Bill 160 from being passed.

2018 and 2020 Elections for Georgia State Senate District 6[]

In 2018, Jordan won re-election against Republican Leah Aldridge with 58% of the vote.[22] In 2020, Jordan won re-election against Republican Harrison Lance with 62% of the vote.[22]

Attorney General of Georgia campaign[]

On April 14, 2021, Jordan announced she was running for Attorney General of Georgia, against incumbent Christopher M. Carr.[23] She plans to fight for women's issues, defend voting rights, prevent pollution, create new gun control laws to prevent shootings, and protect children from child predators. If she wins, she will become the first female attorney general of Georgia.[24]

Personal life[]

Jordan is originally from South Georgia but had moved to the Atlanta area for her law practice. She and her husband, Lawton, have two children.[25]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Georgia State Senator Jennifer Jordan (Democrat - 6)". Georgia State Senate. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  2. ^ University of Georgia School of Law (Class of 2001) Commencement
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jen Jordan's Biography
  4. ^ Marquez, Jennifer Rainey (February 11, 2020). "The Passion of Jen Jordan: How an unlikely politician became the new voice of Georgia's Democratic party". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Jennifer Jordan Bio January 2019 Senate Press Office" (PDF). January 2019.
  6. ^ Bill Nigut (Host). Political Rewind, Another Big Tuesday In Race To White House, Georgia Public Broadcasting, 3/10/2020,https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wjsp/audio/2020/03/fullshow.mp3
  7. ^ "Jen Jordan Bio" (PDF). Georgia State Senate. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  8. ^ "FindLaw's Supreme Court of Georgia case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "Who We Are". Shamp Jordan Woodward - Trial Attorneys. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Gargis, Jon (November 25, 2017). "District 6 candidates Jaha Howard and Jen Jordan to court voters from both parties". Marietta Daily Journal. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  11. ^ Willis, Haisten (December 6, 2017). "Jen Jordan officially ends GOP supermajority in Georgia State Senate". . Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  12. ^ Williams, Ross (December 6, 2017). "Jen Jordan wins the 6th District". Marietta Daily Journal. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  13. ^ "https://twitter.com/senatorjen/status/1375612888384217088". Twitter. Retrieved May 20, 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  14. ^ Journal-Constitution, Patricia Murphy-The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionGreg Bluestein- The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTia Mitchell- The Atlanta. "The Jolt: To boycott or not to boycott? Georgia Democrats' new question after SB 202". ajc. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  15. ^ Goodman, Brenda. "Ethylene Oxide: Tests Show Spike In Toxic Gas After Plant Reopened". Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "https://twitter.com/senatorjen/status/1157003960860979200". Twitter. Retrieved May 20, 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ rmanins@mdjonline.com, Rosie Manins. "Senator files lawsuit against state regarding Sterigenics' Cobb facility". MDJOnline.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "Latest on Sterigenics Plant situation | Cobb County Georgia". www.cobbcounty.org. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  19. ^ Voices, retrieved May 20, 2021
  20. ^ EDT, Jenni Fink On 3/29/19 at 3:21 PM (March 29, 2019). "Georgia's strict anti-abortion bill could have a negative $9.5 billion economic impact, passes house". Newsweek. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  21. ^ Jen Jordan's dissent on HB 481, retrieved May 20, 2021
  22. ^ a b "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  23. ^ "Atlanta attorney Jen Jordan announces run for Georgia attorney general". Clayton News. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  24. ^ "Atlanta Dem state senator to make run for Georgia attorney general". 11Alive.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  25. ^ "Jen Jordan Bio" (PDF). Georgia State Senate. Retrieved May 19, 2018.

External links[]

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