Jon Ossoff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jon Ossoff
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Official portrait, 2021
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| United States Senator from Georgia |
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| Assumed office January 20, 2021 Serving with Raphael Warnock
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| Preceded by | David Perdue |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Thomas Jonathan Ossoff
February 16, 1987 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Alisha Kramer
(m. 2017) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS) London School of Economics (MS) |
Jon Ossoff (born February 16, 1987) is an American politician. He is currently a U.S. Senator for Georgia, a job he has held since 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming a senator, Ossoff worked as a filmmaker, making documentaries and doing investigative journalism.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Ossoff started his career producing documentaries. In 2017, he ran for a seat in the U.S. House in Georgia's 6th district. He came very close to winning, even though it was a district that usually voted for Republicans. In 2020, Ossoff won the election for U.S. Senator in Georgia. He beat the Republican senator, David Perdue, in a special runoff election on January 5, 2021. As a senator, Ossoff has worked on laws, like one that would stop members of Congress from buying and selling company stocks.
When he won, Ossoff became the youngest person elected to the Senate since 1980. He was also the first senator born in the 1980s and the first "millennial" (someone born between the early 1980s and late 1990s) to become a U.S. Senator. He and Raphael Warnock are the first Democrats to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate since 2005.
Early Life and Education
Jon Ossoff was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 16, 1987. He grew up in a nearby area called Northlake. His mother, Heather Fenton, came to the U.S. from Australia when she was 23. She helped start an organization that helps women get elected to local government jobs in Georgia. His father, Richard Ossoff, owns a publishing company. His family has Jewish roots from Russia and Lithuania. Ossoff was raised Jewish and formally converted before his bar mitzvah. He has shared that his family members who survived the Holocaust greatly influenced his view of the world.
Ossoff went to The Paideia School in Atlanta. While he was in high school, he worked as an intern for civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis. In 2009, Ossoff earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University. He also studied at the London School of Economics in 2013, where he earned a Master of Science degree.
Early Career
After getting a recommendation from John Lewis, Ossoff worked for U.S. Representative Hank Johnson. He helped with national security and foreign policy from 2007 to 2012.
From 2013 to 2021, Ossoff was a leader at Insight: The World Investigates (TWI). This company, based in London, made investigative TV shows. They worked with reporters to create documentaries about corruption in other countries. For example, the company produced investigations for the BBC about ISIS and problems in East Africa. Ossoff also helped make a documentary about a play in Sierra Leone.
Running for the U.S. House in 2017
In 2017, Ossoff decided to run for a special election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The previous representative, Tom Price, had been chosen for a new job by Donald Trump. Ossoff quickly became the main Democratic candidate. Important politicians like Hank Johnson and John Lewis supported him. He also received support from Senator Bernie Sanders. Ossoff raised a lot of money for his campaign, more than $8 million.
This election became a big deal, seen as a test of support for President Trump. The district had been a Republican area since 1978. Even though Ossoff lived just outside the district at the time, he had grown up there, and his family still lived there. He explained he lived nearby so his girlfriend, who was a medical student, could walk to work.
On April 18, 2017, no candidate won more than 50 percent of the votes. Ossoff got about 48.1 percent, and Republican candidate Karen Handel got 19.8 percent. Because no one won a majority, Ossoff and Handel had a second election, called a runoff, on June 20, 2017.
Ossoff's campaign raised over $23 million, which was a record for a U.S. House candidate. Most of this money came from small donations from people all over the country. His opponents criticized him for getting money from outside Georgia. The election became the most expensive House election in U.S. history, with over $55 million spent by both sides.
In the runoff election on June 20, Ossoff lost to Karen Handel. She won with 51.78 percent of the votes, and Ossoff received 48.22 percent. Even though Ossoff brought out many new voters, it was not enough to win in this Republican-leaning district.
In 2018, Ossoff decided not to run for the seat again.
U.S. Senate
Elections
2020–2021 Election
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Ossoff decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2020 to challenge the Republican senator, David Perdue. On June 10, Ossoff won the Democratic primary election with 53 percent of the votes, moving on to the main election.
In October 2020, Ossoff's campaign raised over $100 million, making it the best-funded Senate campaign in U.S. history.
In the election on November 3, David Perdue received 49.73% of the votes, and Jon Ossoff received 47.95%. Since neither candidate got more than 50% of the votes, they had a runoff election on January 5, 2021.
Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who was running for Georgia's other Senate seat, focused their final arguments on approving $2,000 payments to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that if they won, Democrats would have a majority in the Senate, making it easier to pass this help.
On January 6, 2021, Jon Ossoff was declared the winner. He won by getting many votes in the areas around Atlanta. David Perdue accepted his loss on January 8.
On January 20, Ossoff was sworn into the Senate by Vice President Kamala Harris. When he took office, he became the first Jewish senator from Georgia. At 33 years old, he was the youngest member of the Senate and the first "millennial" senator. He was sworn in using the Bible of Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, a civil rights activist from Atlanta.
Ossoff is the first Democrat elected to a full term in the Senate from Georgia since 1996. He and Warnock are the first Democratic U.S. senators from Georgia since 2005.
What He Does in the Senate
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On January 20, 2021, Ossoff officially became a U.S. Senator. He supported all of President Joe Biden's choices for his cabinet (the group of people who lead government departments).
In December 2021, Ossoff asked the Secretary of Education to help Morris Brown College, a historically Black college, get its accreditation back. Accreditation is like a school's official approval, which Morris Brown had lost in 2002. After Ossoff's request, students could apply for federal financial aid, and the school got its accreditation back in April 2022.
In January 2022, Ossoff introduced a new law that would stop members of Congress and their spouses (husbands or wives) from buying and selling company stocks.
Committees He Serves On
Jon Ossoff serves on several important committees in the Senate. These committees study different topics and help create new laws. He is part of the:
- Committee on Appropriations
- Committee on Rules and Administration
- Select Committee on Intelligence
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Political Views
In 2017, people described Ossoff as having "progressive" views on topics like women's rights and healthcare, but more "moderate" views on jobs and security. He tried to focus on local issues rather than national politics during his first campaign.
By 2020, Ossoff was more open about supporting liberal ideas. He also directly criticized President Trump, linking his opponent to Trump's policies.
Key Issues
- Death Penalty: Ossoff is against the death penalty and wants to end it.
- Economy: He supports bringing back some financial rules to prevent risky trading. He also supported giving money to people and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes that testing, treatment, and vaccines for COVID-19 should be free. He voted for the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was a bill to help the U.S. economy recover from the pandemic. He also supports spending money to improve roads, bridges, and other public structures.
- Education: Ossoff wants to make education more affordable. He supports making trade schools, vocational training, and public colleges free. He also supports forgiving some student loan debt.
- Environment: He believes that climate change is real and a threat. He supports the U.S. being part of the Paris Agreement, which is an international agreement to fight climate change. He is not in favor of the "Green New Deal," which is a big plan for climate action. He supports rules to limit greenhouse gases and wants to protect endangered animals and their homes. In 2022, he helped stop a titanium mine that could have damaged the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.
- Energy: Ossoff supports using renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. He believes that human actions are causing global warming and that we should invest in clean energy.
- Foreign Policy:
- Afghanistan: He supported President Biden's decision to remove troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
- Israel: Ossoff led a group of senators who asked for a ceasefire during a conflict in 2021. He believes Israel has a right to defend itself. He also supports providing U.S. military aid to Israel.
- Saudi Arabia: He supports stopping the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
- Government Reform: Ossoff wants to cut wasteful government spending. He also supports making Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico into states. He is open to setting limits on how long federal judges can serve. He supports laws that protect voting rights.
- Gun Control: He supports various measures to control guns, such as background checks for gun buyers, "red flag laws" (which allow temporary removal of guns from people who might be a danger), and a ban on certain types of assault weapons.
- Healthcare: Ossoff supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). He believes that no one should suffer or go broke because they get sick. He does not support a single-payer healthcare system (where the government pays for everyone's healthcare), but he wants to improve the current healthcare system. He supports expanding Medicaid and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
- Immigration: He supports changing immigration laws to make borders stronger and to provide a way for some undocumented immigrants to become citizens. He is against building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border but supports strengthening border security.
- LGBT Rights: Ossoff strongly supports the LGBT community. He supports the Equality Act, which would stop discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
- Minimum Wage: He supports raising the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.
- Social Security: Ossoff supports making Social Security benefits stronger and protecting them.
- Taxes: He supports using taxes to balance the government's budget. He wants to undo some tax cuts that were made during the Trump administration. He aims to lower taxes for most Americans, especially small businesses and families, but not for the wealthiest.
- Trump Administration: Ossoff has often criticized President Donald Trump for his "divisive approach" and his COVID policies. He voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial after the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
- Voting Rights: Ossoff supports the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. After Georgia passed a new voting law in 2021, Ossoff said he was unhappy with it. However, he did not support businesses boycotting the state, saying that Georgians need jobs and opportunities.
Personal Life
Jon Ossoff is married to Alisha Kramer. She is a doctor who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology (caring for pregnant women and women's health). They got married in 2017 after dating for 12 years. On the night Ossoff won his Senate election in January 2021, Alisha was working an overnight shift at a hospital in Atlanta. They have one daughter, who was born in December 2021.
Images for kids
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Official portrait, 2021
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Results of the 2017 special House election. Ossoff lost to Karen Handel.
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Ossoff speaks to supporters at a campaign event in November 2020.
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Ossoff and fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in March 2021.
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Ossoff and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy meet with Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias, September 6, 2021.
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Ossoff with his now-wife, Alisha Kramer, during his 2017 congressional campaign.
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See also
- List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
In Spanish: Jon Ossoff para niños
