John Eaves, the Atlanta-based grandson of a Jamaican immigrant, has thrown his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state of Georgia, which became a hot seat in the 2020 US presidential elections.

Eaves, who is the former chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and a member of the Jewish religion, said he would seek the nomination for secretary of state in 2022, according to the Atlanta Jewish Times.

The 59-year-old Eaves said his grandfather, Cecil Reginald Eaves, converted to Judaism after immigrating to America from Jamaica in 1913. “He passed his faith to my father, John Henry Eaves Sr, who in turn passed it on to me.”

The former lecturer in political science at Spelman College and recent host of an interview programme on the AIB Network remains a member of The Temple.

“I am part of a racial group that has experienced oppression and discrimination but through it all persevered. I am also part of a religious lineage that has equally experienced oppression and discrimination but through it all persevered,” Eaves said.

The role of Georgia’s secretary of state in overseeing elections grabbed the national spotlight in 2020 when current Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger resisted pressure to change results of the contest between Republican incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic former Vice-President Joe Biden.

Raffensperger has yet to announce his intention to seek re-election to the office he won in 2018, but that is expected.

Eaves is quoted by the Jewish Times as saying of Raffensperger: “I like him. He stood on grounds of integrity, but of course, he had to follow the law… He’s also consistent with other secretaries of state, but he got the pressure from the ‘big cheese’,” referring to the January 2, hour-long telephone call in which Trump told Raffensperger, ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’ to overturn Biden’s win in Georgia.”

Eaves said his decision to run for secretary of state was a natural for him, adding: “Voting is sacred to me and I don’t like what’s happening, not only in the state of Georgia, in terms of voting access and restrictions, but around the country.”

Eaves served as the Fulton County board chair from 2007 to 2017, when he resigned to launch an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Atlanta. He is the second announced Democratic candidate for 2022, following state Representative Bee Nguyen, who represents the 89th District in the state House.

He described the position of secretary of state as “incredibly important in terms of economic development, incorporation of businesses, licensing of professionals, the securities industry, a whole other side of that office that people don’t think about”.