When Chris Jones launched his campaign to become the next Governor of Arkansas last June, the video that he used to introduce himself to voters quickly went viral. In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, Jones touts his family’s eight generations in Arkansas, his Morehouse and MIT education in nuclear physics and his ordination as a Baptist minister. Since making a splash on the internet, Jones has been traveling across every county in Arkansas, talking to voters and implementing a strategy to win over a state that went two-to-one for Donald Trump in the last presidential election. Jones sat down exclusively with Blavity to discuss his campaign, background and vision for Arkansas.

A plan to win over Arkansans across the state

Acknowledging the challenges of winning the governor’s race in a state that hasn’t elected a Black person to statewide office since reconstruction, Jones laid out his strategy for success, reminding us that Arkansas tends to alternate between electing Democratic and Republican governors, even in recent years. Jones’ path to victory, he explained, included mobilizing the 300,000 eligible voters who did not cast a ballot in the last election. Holding on to the 420,000 Arkansans who voted for Joe Biden even though the Democrat never visited the state. And winning over voters in places like Harrison, Ark. — a headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan — where citizens have been surprisingly willing to meet and talk with Jones.

With a slate of Black politicians making history in several states in recent years, Jones has drawn lessons from his recent forbearers. Like Stacey Abrams of Georgia, Jones has launched a campaign focused on “meeting people where they are, authentically, in an energized and exciting way.” Drawing from former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, whose campaign Jones worked for before moving back to Arkansas, Jones noted how Patrick “created an environment where everyone felt they owned the campaign.”

Taking this people-centric approach to campaigning, Jones has crafted a message that he believes resonates with the issues that Arkansans find most important. He summarizes his campaign as spreading PB&J: preschool, broadband and jobs.

Speaking 20 different languages to voters

As an ordained minister, Jones believes that his life has been guided along the way. “God will open doors at the right moment in time,” he said, adding that his job has been to walk through them. For Jones, those open door moments included the time when, at 8 years old, he was taken by his dad to meet then-Governor Bill Clinton. “What’s a governor?” Jones asked his father so that he could set his sights on emulating Clinton.

Another door opened when Jones witnessed the Challenger space shuttle disaster, an event that made him want to become an astronaut and led him to study physics and math at Morehouse and nuclear engineering at MIT. Jones explained his pursuits of both science and politics with a “common love and passion for solving problems.”

Running as a scientist in a climate where basic facts about diseases and the environment are being called into question, Jones pushed back against prevailing ideas about rural ignorance. “Farmers know how to understand science,” he said, discussing the details of how to successfully raise crops. The real issue, Jones argues, is to recognize the motivations behind disagreements and to approach discussions accordingly. ”Sometimes you’re having a conversation around facts and sometimes you’re having a conversation about ideology,” Jones said.

For the latter, trying to convince someone that they are wrong is less impactful than convincing them that you share common values. Jones quipped that he speaks “20 languages,” including “scientist,” “Black man,” “girl dad” and “Morehouse,” among many other facets of his life. And he uses these experiences to speak to voters in the language that they understand.

Chris Jones
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chris Jones

A battle for Arkansas and the country

To win his race, Jones will have to not only speak to voters in their languages but also overcome a well-connected Republican opponent. The GOP frontrunner, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is the daughter of former governor and current conservative media staple, Mike Huckabee. Sanders also served as press secretary to former President Donald Trump.

Sanders “was [Trump’s] mouthpiece,” Jones explained, adding that her campaign has reflected the far-right agenda of the Trump administration rather than the concerns of ordinary Arkansans. “She makes ads that don’t talk about Arkansas, but CNN and socialism,” Jones said. With Republican focus on the state, Arkansas “is ground zero for where we go as a country,” Jones warned. “If you don’t want Trumpism 2.0, we have to stop it now.”

Jones reflected on the type of state and country he wants for his wife, Jerrilyn Jones — an Air Force veteran and ER doctor who served in Afghanistan and was a first responder after the Boston Marathon bombing — and their three daughters. “This isn’t about Chris Jones,” he said. Tying together his various motivations, Jones explained that his life and campaign are all centered on belief. “Believe that we can not only win this race but take leaps closer to the ideals that are America,” Jones declared. “The country was started on belief, my faith is grounded on belief, science requires belief,” Jones explained.

We will see how many voters believe in Chris Jones and the other candidates when Arkansas holds its Democratic and Republican primaries on May 24. The winners of these party races will face off on Election Day, November 8.