Atlanta- This week, state Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta) believes majority rule is sacrosanct. Just two weeks ago, the Atlanta Democrat saw majority rule as a sexist attack on democracy.
“Sen. Jordan’s principles clearly do not exist beyond situational ethics,” said Georgia Republican Party First Vice Chair Carolyn Fisher. “According to the senator, when Republicans are in control, decisions are supposed to be bipartisan. When Democrats are in control, majority rule is all that matters. Jordan’s words are meaningless and her principles change based on what maximizes her power.”
Last week, Jordan joined fellow Democrats in bashing Senate Republican leaders for not naming more Democratic women as committee chairs, despite the fact that the Georgia Senate is one of the few legislative bodies across the country that allows the minority party to have any chairmanships at all. Check to see how many Republicans that Nancy Pelosi named as chairmen in the U.S. House.
But when Jordan’s team has a majority, she thinks both Republicans and freethinking Democrats should keep their mouths shut.
On Wednesday, Jordan joined other Democrats in walking out of the Cobb delegation meeting to prevent a quorum. The protesting Democrats had picked a favored chairman for the delegation, but another Democrat, Sen. Michael “Doc” Rhett of Marietta, had the majority of votes after being nominated by a bipartisan coalition.
Jordan accused Rhett, a senator of her own party, of trying to “circumvent the slate that had been decided by the Democrats,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It just seems like such a naked attempt to keep power” by Republicans, Jordan said.
Despite Jordan’s opinion that the majority should never give a voice to the minority, Republicans named her as the chairman of the Special Judiciary Committee.
When state Senate committees were announced on Jan. 15, Jordan tweeted the following:
She quickly changed her mind on that too.
Despite feeling “honored to be chosen” to chair the Special Judiciary Committee, the only chairmanship she had requested, Jordan spoke from the Senate well five days later and said that chairmanship was worthless. “Shame on you,” she said.
However, three pieces of legislation have already been assigned to the Special Judiciary Committee in the first seven days of the legislative session: SB 29, SB 31 and SB 32. The bills involve motor vehicle claims, duties and protections for law enforcement officers, and protection for those who provide emergency care to individuals in dangerous situations, respectively. Jordan has not amended her statement.
“Republican leaders have shown a willingness to work across the aisle, even taking the extraordinary step of allowing Democrats to chair committees,” said Georgia Republican Party Chairman John Watson. “Sen. Jordan and her fellow Democrats are proving they’d govern with blind partisanship if ever given the majority. That’s one more example of why we can’t let that happen.”
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