After an unsuccessful bid for city council and three terms as secretary of the California Democratic Party, Jones-Sawyer ran for the Assembly in 2012 on a platform of job creation and economic growth, including a plan to lease out vacant state-owned land.

Source: https://sacobserver.com/2023/08/this-l-a-democrat-is-a-new-testament-kind-of-guy-and-one-of-californias-most-powerful-voices-on-criminal-justice/

He could have been lynched,” Jones-Sawyer said.

Source: https://sacobserver.com/2023/08/this-l-a-democrat-is-a-new-testament-kind-of-guy-and-one-of-californias-most-powerful-voices-on-criminal-justice/

Yet there are also a lifetime of experiences that clearly weigh on Jones-Sawyer: He shared that he was molested as a child and that his father was physically abusive toward his mother.

Source: https://sacobserver.com/2023/08/this-l-a-democrat-is-a-new-testament-kind-of-guy-and-one-of-californias-most-powerful-voices-on-criminal-justice/