Rep. Jackson Endorses Karen René for Congress

ATLANTA – – Georgia Rep. Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, endorsed Karen René today in her bid to become the representative for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District. Renè, a three-term member of the East Point, Georgia, city council, former East Point mayor pro tem, vice president of the NAACP Atlanta Branch, and a longtime activist, is a leading candidate in a crowded field of challengers in the May Democratic primary. The Georgia General Assembly redrew the boundaries of the district, which now includes Dekalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton, Henry, and Clayton counties. As a result, 70% of the constituents are new to the district. The new district is heavily Democratic, and the winner of the primary is expected to be elected to Congress.

Jackson said Renè is the person residents of the district need. “So many of us are admirers of Karen René and all the work she has done for Georgia, so much so that last year the 100 Black Men of South Metro Atlanta awarded her the Impact Award for her service to the community,” Jackson said. “I am
personally amazed at how tireless and focused she is when it comes to serving her constituents, whether it be as a city council member, with the NAACP or any of the other positions she has had on the variety of issues she has taken up since she entered the political arena. “Her fresh ideas, her energy, and her ability to work with others are what we so desperately need in Congress right now.”

Renè is a graduate of political science from Alabama State University with a law degree from Atlanta Law School. She also worked as the state director for the Georgia Working Families Party. She was born and raised on a farm in Selma, Alabama, where some say the fight for voting rights was won. It was in Selma where SNCC worker John Lewis, later a longtime U.S. Congressman, and SCLC worker Hosea Williams, later an Atlanta city council member, five-term state senator, and Dekalb County commissioner, were beaten at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in their quest for voting rights. Renè recalls how that impacted her parents, who always took her and her five siblings with them when they went to vote to illustrate the importance of casting a ballot.

Jackson’s fellow representative, Karen Bennett, D-Stone Mountain, endorsed Renè earlier this week. “Karen René has the energy and smarts that we need in Washington to protect and promote the wishes and rights of the nearly one million people of the 13th Congressional District,” Bennett said. “Karen René has been on the frontline since she graduated from law school, fighting for the issues that matter, economic development, affordable housing, youth development, job training with workforce development, fair wages, and health care.

“Unlike so many elected officials, Karen René is the kind of person who gets things done. She doesn’t just talk about it. She was one of the key people who helped send President Joe Biden to the White
House in 2020 and send two Georgia Democrats to the U.S. Senate.”

Ron Harris
Media Representative
Karen René for Congress
202.316.6567
ronaldjharris@gmail.com