Dr. John Eaves, Democratic Candidate for GA Secretary of State

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast is in Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts

Our guests highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties. 

Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact. 

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Transcript

Meral Clarke: 0:17

Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County, Georgia Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our guest, Dr. John Eaves, Democratic candidate for Georgia Secretary of State. Welcome to the show, John. We're happy to have you here.

John Eaves: 0:40

Well, it certainly is my pleasure, and I look forward to sharing with your listening audience today.

Meral Clarke: 0:45

Terrific. Well, let's let our listeners know a little bit about you. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, John relocated to Georgia to attend Morehouse College. While at Morehouse, he received local and national recognition for his volunteerism in the Atlanta Public School System. As a politician, he gained his first experience in politics while volunteering for his uncle Richard Eaves in his campaign for mayor of Atlanta. Following his graduation from Morehouse, John served as the National Director of the NCAA volunteer for youth program and was the Southeast Regional Director of the Peace Corps. In 2006. John achieved his dream of public service by being elected chairman of Fulton County, Georgia's most populous county. During his 11 year tenure as Chairman. John established a reputation as a staunch advocate on health care, transportation, voting registration and voting access alongside homelessness and criminal justice reform. John holds a master's degree in religion from Yale University and a PhD in educational administration from the University of South Carolina. As a seasoned politician, he is the recipient of numerous awards including two Fulbright awards in Germany and Finland and an award as an American Memorial fellow. Following his time as Chairman of Fulton County, John launched Atlanta Speaks on the Atlanta interfaith broadcasters network Atlanta speaks addresses various community and political issues such as criminal justice reform and the integrity of the US elections. When John is not addressing local and state issues. He spends his time as the executive director of the Global Youth Ambassadors or GYA program. Over the past 13 years, John has helped over 500 high school students from underserved communities with international travel and leadership travel experiences through the GYA program. He currently serves as a senior instructor at Spelman College in Atlanta. Well, first, sir, congratulations on your many achievements and your public service. We are eternally in your debt. So let's dive into your campaign for Georgia Secretary of State. Why did you decide to run for this office and why now?

John Eaves: 3:16

First of all, thank you again for the opportunity to share with your listening audience. I look forward to the dialogue. I think I had an aha moment in the spring of last year 2021, while teaching these dynamic young women at Spelman College about the political process, and we actually studied what was happening in the legislature in one of the classes I taught was called the legislative process. And we discussed some of the shenanigans some of the improprieties, some of the misgivings that were going on in the development of Senate Bill 202, which we Democrats think is a voter restrictive law. We saw how it was going through the chambers and ultimately signed by the governor. And as this was happening in real time, and as I was teaching my students about the importance of advocacy and running for office, the aha moment was, you know, why not me? So they have years of experience, I certainly have a very good reputation, balance, bipartisan consensus builder, having integrity, many years of experience as a chairman of Fulton County, as you point out in my resume about and I said, Hey, send me, I'm ready to go. And so I felt good about my decision, and feel even better about it eight or nine months into the campaign cycle. So the long response to your question is teaching young, dynamic women about politics, the political process, and instead of dealing with it in an abstract way, I decided to get back to the game and lend my support, my engagement, my expertise, my background, in terms of running for this office, and that's why I'm running.

Meral Clarke: 4:52

Terrific. Well, we're glad you're running and that you're taking a stance against the suppressive SB 202 bill which has now passed. So let's talk about that. 27,000 absentee ballots were recently rejected by the Republican run elections offices in Texas. That's 27,000 votes that weren't counted in their recent elections. How do we ensure this doesn't happen in our state and that every voter has an opportunity to have their ballot count?

John Eaves: 5:23

Yeah, I think that in some respects, what happens in Texas is a fork run of what may happen in Georgia and vice versa, I think we sort of a neck and neck in terms of how we're going to out wrong each other in terms of the voting process. I think there's several things that need to happen. Number one, as Secretary of State, I'm going to actually have a very good relationship with all of the local election boards. One of the advantages I have as a coming from county government serving as chairman, understand county government is close to the people. And right now, there is not a very good relationship, a collaborative relationship between the Secretary of State and the local election boards, which acts each individually and each county is responsible for the elections process. So I'm going to have a very good relationship, coordinate and collaborate, but also stress the importance of transparency, I believe that we need to open up the process in terms of letting the public know where we are in terms of the tabulation of votes, and in allowing Democrats and Republicans to be poll watchers. And for me to support the election of board members, whether their Democratic Republican say, Hey, I expect you to do your job. And so number one, I think it's important to have a strong coordinated effort and a collaborative effort with the local election boards. The second thing that I think is equally important is the proceedings of the state election board, which ultimately is an entity that approves the elections that happen in the State of Georgia. Unfortunately, right now, that board is incredibly partisan, three Republicans and one Democrat. And even though SB 202, remove the secretary of state from being the chair of that elections board, that person is still in the room, even as an ex officio officer may not have the ability to vote. But that does not mean that that person does not have influence also can be a sort of a level of accountability. So I'm going to be in the room. And I'm going to make sure that whenever the proceedings are done by the state election board, that I'm going to make sure that it's done right and fairly. And even with the ability for the state elections board to identify a so called underperforming county call for review, and perhaps potentially taking over a local county board. Again, I'm going to be that that check and balance, I'm going to be that watchdog that makes sure that that process, if done is done fairly. And that's not done in a hyper partisan way, or in a way that's borderlines the racism in terms of targeting some counties that have a high proportion of African American voters, so I have a dual approach to minimize the likelihood of any sort of rejection of absentee applications, or anything else that goes on that's not proper, I would minimize it by having a very strong close relationship with all the election boards across the State of Georgia. And then secondly, I'll be in the room with the state election board to make sure that that board operates in the most fair, transparent, and just way.

Meral Clarke: 8:40

That's wonderful. And what are your thoughts, specifically on absentee ballots being rejected, because they're so difficult to fill out now, and it's causing a serious issue. And also, I wanted to get your thoughts on the restriction on early voting as well.

John Eaves: 8:56

So the absentee ballot piece I actually sat in on a session that was conducted by one of the electors down in Ware County, that's Waycross, Georgia. And as he explained to those who were there, you incorrectly fill out something a line or not complete a line asking for background information, that ballot can be rejected or to be sent back to you. If you don't put your telephone number, you can't be contacted. So I think there's a very important opportunity, or I think a very much needed opportunity to fully educate the public. So I am educated by training. So I will do all that I can educate the public through surrogates, as well as what I do on my own to try to explain to people how to properly complete the absentee application and also the timeline that you need to follow in order to request it and get it in so that you can receive the ballot and get the ballot in by the certain timeline. So I think education is probably the best thing that I can do given some of the challenges that are associated with the absentee ballot application process. And what was the second part of the question?

Meral Clarke: 10:13

The shortened early voting process.

John Eaves: 10:16

Again, going back to my days as chairman of Fulton County, we were the first or one of the first two counties to do three weeks in advance voting, we were one of the first to do souls to the pole. So I am a proponent, and have seen how Democrats and Republicans benefit from advance voting. And so even though there may be some restrictions that are in place in terms of shortening it, I do all that I can to make sure that across the board, there's consistency in terms of three weeks in advance voting, I think that it it only opens up the process. And if done right and consistently, it is something that will benefit all Georgians. Shortening the process taking away a weekend or day on the weekend inhibits. And I'm just a firm proponent that three weeks out, as well as weekends in between should be the standard, and all counties should abide by, because you want all Georgians to vote, and it's not tilted one way or the other.

Meral Clarke: 11:17

What about the ballot boxes being removed from outside the elections offices now you have to actually physically go in, and you have to vote during business hours. So this prohibits or inhibits a lot of folks who have to work for a living from voting with the absence of those boxes, would you bring those back?

John Eaves: 11:39

I'll do all that I can. And let me tell you why. I bank with a couple banks, one of them is Wells Fargo. And I have the luxury of getting my $25 out of the bank by going to a ATM machine that's outside that I can access during the evening weekends, when the nine to five hours or clothes are not available to me, I have the ability to access my money electronically through the ATM machine using my my ATM card. And that money that comes out of ATM machine is secure. And all this craziness about insecurity of boxes and all this other type of stuff putting in inside it we have become so accustomed to the convenience of banking and go into the ATM machine curbside, and going to any time that we want to wash it, we'd be counter intuitive and make voting more difficult by going inside during operating hours. So I'm just a proponent that the boxes should be outside that can be secure, that can be monitored, that can be a surveillance camera. And if we can we trust our money, an ATM machine? Why should we trust the entry of a ballot for two ballot box while monitored? So I'm going to be pushing for more accessibility under my administration

Meral Clarke: 12:58

Terrific. That that would be very important in my estimation. So turning to Republicans claims of lack of voter integrity in the Georgia Secretary of State's office, we know it isn't true, right. But the claims persist. How do we fight these misconceptions and disinformation around our voting process other than education because I'm worried that it's going to tamp down the vote because the absentee ballots and the lack of voting access will hit underserved communities we know the most. So other than education, what can we do to get voters out to the poll souls to the polls, as you would say, this year specifically?

John Eaves: 13:44

Well, I think it's a multi faceted approach that we have to do. Number one is there truly is a climate of mistrust. And I believe that there's a soft skill approach and a hard skill approach and soft skill approach even though I know you reference education, but I just believe that getting out there as an elected official, particularly being the chief elected official, the chief person over the elections process going out to communities. I'm not sure what Raffensberger is doing. I haven't seen him outside of being in front of a TV camera.

Meral Clarke: 14:19

Well, he has received quite a few death threats from Republicans, not Democrats. So that may have something to do with it.

John Eaves: 14:26

Well, let's give them that benefit of the doubt. But you still can get out there with security. And I believe that is the responsibility of all elected officials, particularly in this case, given all of the mistrust is to go out to all communities. I'll be a Democrat, strong Democrat, but I'm not uncomfortable going into Republican communities. I live in the City of Atlanta, but I am not uncomfortable going to North Georgia and to some of the communities where It is not a whole lot of diversity, a whole lot of Democrats, but I'm going to go. And so I think that the soft skill approach is getting out and being the face of the Secretary of State's office literally, and establishing trust and being consistent with the messaging. Now I actually interviewed Brad Raffensberger. On my TV show, he referenced that in my bio, I had a TV show for six months with the Atlanta interfaith Broadcasting Network. And he told me on my show, that the elections were done fairly. And, in fact, Georgia was considered one of the best run elections of any state in the country, by some objective person outside of the country, I think they went Germany, they gave a rating of two, he said it to me. But after that interview, in January, he sort of did a 360, or maybe a 180, in terms of talking about some of the problems with the process. So I'm going to be consistent, and I'm going to go to communities, where I may not necessarily be among my base of support, because I think trust, thorough and consistent communication is important. And then also think that this transparency piece that I mentioned, is incredibly important. I think we need to open up the process, and be a whole lot more transparent. And then number three, is nothing wrong with working with advocacy groups that are out there registering people to vote. And again, I'm going to be fair, consistent. I'm going to support advocacy groups that may be Democratic leaning, as well as those who are Republican, encourage them to use their connections in the communities to get people registered to vote, and that people get people to vote. Georgia actually has one of the highest percentages of people who are eligible to vote who are actually registered to vote. But we also have one of the highest and most aggressive voter purging practices in any state in the country. So what a dichotomy there. And so I want to make sure that not only do we have the highest percentage of people voting, and maybe even from an aspirational standpoint, we want to have 100% of Georgians are eligible to vote who want to vote, registered to vote. But we also want to get people mobilized because I think that we should never be satisfied with turnout to be in the 20s for some of the local elections in a in a good presidential year. In the 60s, that's still far short of one hundred percent. So I'm going to be the face. And I'm going to go out, I'm going to interfaith interact with all communities and constituencies, be consistent with my message, establish trust, but I'm also willing to work with other groups, other advocacy groups, whether they're Democrat leaning or Republican leaning, and try to get them to be even more effective in terms of registering people to vote so that we get up to that potential 100% threshold. And then I think, once we do all of that, the next thing is to try to do all we can to get more people to actually participate in the voting process.

Meral Clarke: 18:12

Terrific. And make sure that they know where their polling places are, because Republicans have, of course, limited quite a few polling places, especially in rural areas, and in Fulton County. So we know this is true. So speaking of Brad Raffensberger, the current Republican Secretary of State, what are your thoughts about the Republican race for this office between Raffensberger and Jody Hice? We know that Raffensberger is a moderate, pretty much a moderate, he's not really a far right crazy guy, and he's somewhat reasonable, but Jody Hice scares the heck out of me. And a lot of other Democrats being a far right Trump supporter. So what are your thoughts on that race?

John Eaves: 18:57

I haven't really paid a whole lot of attention to the race, although I do know some of the dynamics as you just described in Jody Hice. To give up his seat as a congressman, sitting congressman to run for this position says a lot. And for him to be in one of the most responsible federal seats in the country as a member of Congress and to embrace a complete falsehood. To me that's troubling. And to not only embrace it, but to continue to talk about it. And knowingly, you know, when I was local official, working in a bipartisan way, I got to know Republicans and be different on policy. But for the most part, we'll get people and to hear some of folks who I used to interact with, I don't know Jody Hice, but to to embrace this lie. I often say myself, they know better. I would never, as an elected official, say something to the public, that I didn't believe and that wasn't based on truth. In fact, and know these folks know that this big lie is a lie. And for them to talk about it as if it's factual is very troubling. II do not want that type of person in any responsible office, especially the Secretary of State's office. So yes, Brad Raffensberger is more moderate than Jody Hice and even David Bell, but I'll say that I'm also disappointed at Brad Raffensberger. He was a part of the Fulton County delegation. He was a member of the house when I was chairman of the Fulton County. I saw him and on occasions be very political, when he was a state rep. And I don't like some of the things that he's done since January that I think are very political. He's made mentioned about immigrants, undocumented people should not vote, he knows that undocumented people can't vote. But he's been saying things that he wants to try to appeal to his base, because he knows that some members of his base, are not pleased with the decision that he made to stick to his job and not find the 12,000 plus votes, Donald Trump had asked, fine. So Brad Raffensberger is more moderate. But I'm also displeased with the way that he's been political with his position with some of his press conferences, some of the things that he said, some of the things that he strived to do, since the big a one thing that he did, which was right.

Meral Clarke: 21:21

And I'd like to mention, and thank you for that. And I'd like to mention that the big lie, of course, is the perception that the election process was stolen in 2020. And audit after audit after audits have been done, and have found that there was no issues with the voting process, not just in Georgia, but across the country. So Republicans seem intent on continuing this lie, regardless of whether they're true believers or whether they're doing this for political purposes to stay alive and survive within the election process. How do we negate as Democrats? How do we negate and fight this misconception that the election was stolen? Because so many, far right, Republicans are still touting that as being true? And I know that some of them know that it isn't true. And they're just saying that to appeal to the far right base. But then there are true believers like Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Pobres. And I hate even mentioning their names on this podcast, they're both so horrible. They're just horrible humans. But how do we fight that? And how do we get their base to understand if we can, if we even can, that this is not true?

John Eaves: 22:35

That's why elected leaders are important. And unfortunately, a lot of the this climate was set with Donald Trump. You know, all of us heard him make reference to the elections process. I think it was the summer of 2020. And it just seems so odd for him to even broach the subject. He became very consistent with what he was saying, just questioning the elections process questioning, people voting, we're not legal or registered to vote. And I believe a lot of Republicans have kind of use that as lesson learn on how to, if you say, a lie enough, it becomes a truth in some people's eyes. I just think that Democrats have to do maybe one or two things. We just got to be consistent, unwavering with our belief and our values, and our desire, our pledge, to be honest, and to be to have integrity. And to be fair, that's why for me as a candidate for this position, I have consistently said that as Secretary of State, I want everybody to vote. I want black, white, Democrat, Republican, urban, rural, rich, poor, everybody to vote. And so I'm going to be consistent with that messaging. And then I think that the we just got to make sure the process is transparent. The tabulation process is transparent, allowing a Democrats and Republicans to be a part of whatever observation that can take place with the process of voting. So I'm going to be consistent. I can always embrace democratic values and things that we as Democrats thing, because important, but that doesn't mean that I can't serve Republicans as well. I'm going to just be consistent with my messaging. I'm going to be inclusive, and I think that consistency at the end of the day.

Meral Clarke: 24:33

Terrific. Well, you strike me, sir, as a consensus builder. How do we build consensus when the political divide is so fractious and horrible right now? Because it's really difficult to try to talk to Republicans who are on the far right and to believe in Trumpism with actual facts when they're watching Fox News 24/7 and we know there are no actual facts on Fox News, and that they don't believe anything that come out of our mouth. So how would you build that consensus and get back to a sense of civility between Republicans and

John Eaves: 25:14

Great question. So what was in in my bio is that Democrats? when I was became chairman of Fulton County in 2007, the northern part of Fulton County, wanted to secede and be its own county called Milton. And that secession movement was based on extreme partisanship and race. And I came in as a Democrat, an African American, and I champion a one Fulton philosophy. I went to North Fulton and I listened to residents, I went to South Fulton I was in the City of Atlanta, and I was a mathematics major at Morehouse College and discovered what all of us discovered when we learn arithmetic. And that is the common denominator. And I believe that even in this partisan hyper partisan environment, polarized environment, that there still is a common denominator. And so I will identify what the common denominator is, or maybe more than one thing that we have in common, and build something around that. And so over time, I was able to not only get the whole conversation about seceeding, splitting off Milton County, we were able to get unanimous votes on budgets, and other policy decisions that was unthinkable before I was chairman of Fulton County. And it was partly in my spirit, partly my willingness and desire to seek consensus, build bridges, and the thing I mentioned earlier in the conversation about trust, I had a Republican, there are no fault. He told me, John, we don't have trust. And so once I was able to establish trust, trust means whatever you say, you're going to do it. You don't say it publicly and behind both privately and then publicly change your mind stablished in trust, so it can be done. I've seen it. And I do have a spirit of consensus building doesn't mean that I'm going to sell out. I just believe that there's a way that you can finesse the common good for everybody. And everybody gets something out of it, as opposed to the current win loss type perspective that many people have in politics.

Meral Clarke: 27:33

That's great. And I will also tell you that that building of separate cities within a county is going on in Cobb County right now, for equally nefarious reasons. So I'd have to agree with you on that we have to be unified. Just out of personal curiosity and for my own edification. You have a divinity degree from Yale, no less. Why did you decide to go into politics and public service versus going into perhaps a church or working as a pastor with a church? What was that thought process for you?

John Eaves: 28:09

Another great question. So actually, I talked with a minister last week, Reverend Myrick, Hufton, who is passive, a growing multicultural church, Roswell, I think it was called World Harvest Church. And we talked about my theological training. And I told him, I said, You know what? Your ministry is preaching the gospel, being within the confines of a church building, you have outreach ministry, my ministry is the political process. And we both serve people. We both abide by rules and regulations. But I tell you Meral the theological training that I got, really does actually serve me well as a public servant. I see myself as a servant leader and his party making decisions with the hip, but also factoring in the heart. Now, I'm not a pushover, I'm not a person who doesn't stand firm on beliefs and doesn't stay firm on certain positions. But I do have a tendency to try to figure out okay, how can we both win? How can we as a jurisdiction, how can we as a state, how can we advance by embracing the common good, you don't hear that reference too often. The common good, and the common good is not necessarily mean at the expense of the minority. But the common good is what reasonable people can agree on that serves the most of us, and doesn't necessarily come alive. And I think that that posture has worked, it's been a part of me, not only when I was in Divinity School, but it was actually part of me when I was a student at Morehouse College and so

Meral Clarke: 29:52

Fantastic. All right, well, if someone wants to get a hold of you learn more about you donate or volunteer to campaign, where would you send them?

John Eaves: 30:01

Go to my website. So my website is John Eaves, EAVES for FOR ga spelling out the word ga.com. And you're welcome to come to the website, check us out, I have a campaign office in northwest Atlanta, also pretty accessible by way of email. But we certainly can benefit and would love to have financial support, as well as what we call sweat equity support in terms of volunteers from the North Georgia area, even though there's is not blue counties up in north Georgia, whether it's Fannin or some of the other counties up in North Georgia, Rabun County, the Democrats and again, going back to my mathematical experience and training, we went by this, and you add up votes everywhere. And all I need is 50% plus one. And that includes North Georgia. So our friends in North Georgia, you're in one of the most beautiful parts of our state, I love going north and seeing some of the parks and the foliage season up there. It's beautiful. But you're part of the wonderful tapestry of our state, good people up there as well as good Democrats who are holding up the torch holding up the banner. And I would love to get your support for my campaign because it truly is a statewide effort.

Meral Clarke: 31:23

Well, we're doing our best, certainly doing our best in Yes, we reside in the ninth congressional district. And it's a bit of a challenge at times, but we're going to keep fighting, and we're going to keep fighting for our values and democratic integrity in all things. And finally, and I ask all of my guests this question, tell us a fun fact about yourself something just about you, John, something that doesn't have to do with your work or servant leadership or your background, just something fun about you.

John Eaves: 31:56

You got to become animated, because you have is an academic side of me. And there's a formal side of me. But there's also a silly side of me, and my kids see it and my sister see my mother sees it. So I'm actually a fun person. You know, I'm the type of guy that you can ride in a car across country in you know, great conversation, sometimes corny humor, my friends tell me, John, what are your jokes is good out of every five that you say? Yeah, even if they're not funny, people laugh because of the effort that I go through the to say a joke. But the other thing that is really unique about me is I love to travel, I have been to 47 states. I've not been to Idaho, Montana and North Dakota, I've traveled to 52 countries around the world, I love to travel. And I think traveling is one of the best way to learn about culture, about life, about the beauty of this world, the oneness of humanity. So it's not so much a fun thing about me, but boy, I love to travel. And I've been to some interesting places ranging from Russia to Paraquad, to Serbia to Hungary to Taiwan to Sierra Leone, West Africa, I have been to many places around the world. And it really has added to how my worldview is and how I actually do my politics because of my travel.

Meral Clarke: 33:21

Well, that's wonderful. And I agree, my husband and I are looking forward to traveling again one day, it's been a bit of a challenge lately between COVID and the Russian Ukrainian war, but certainly that's something we can look forward to in the future. Well, thank you, John, for joining us today. My pleasure. I'm so happy to have you with us and you're welcome up here in North Georgia, beautiful North Georgia anytime you can make it if you'd like to venture forth in the city. We'd love to host you. But thank you for joining us today and sharing more about your critical work to support Democratic Party policy and maintain our democracy. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to the North Georgia Blue Podcast. We hope you'll join us next time when we welcome back Dr. Betty Holland, chair of the Dawson County Democratic Party and executive director and founder of the North Georgia Conservation Association. To learn more about us and the work that we're doing, visit us online at FanninCountyGeorgiaDemocrats.com. Share the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family and be sure to subscribe and follow. And if you enjoy our podcast, consider becoming a founding patron and friend of the show at NorthGeorgiaBluePodcast.com/patron. Now with three different giving levels to choose from offering cool swag recognition on the show and website and valuable gift cards to help us continue getting into more good trouble.