In 2017, the year after Donald Trump’s first election, a microbiologist from Lilburn, Georgia decided she’d had enough of watching from the sidelines. Dr. Jasmine Clark had a PhD from Emory, a career in science education, and a mounting sense that the people making decisions about public health, education, and the future didn’t actually understand any of those things. So she ran for the Georgia House of Representatives — and won, flipping a seat that had been in Republican hands for over two decades.
That was 2018. Since then, she’s been reelected four times, called out her own state’s governor for manipulating COVID data, organized the March for Science in Atlanta, and taught undergraduate and graduate students at Emory’s nursing school, all while raising two kids in Gwinnett County. Now she’s running for Congress in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, an open seat in a race that would make her the first female PhD scientist, and the first Black female PhD scientist, ever elected to Congress.
Her campaign is grounded in the same conviction that got her into politics in the first place. Facts matter, science has to have a seat at the table, and the people making policy about families should actually know what it’s like to be one. She has a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old. She knows (all of that and then some).
We asked her how she’s piecing it all together.
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The quick stats:
- Location: Lilburn, GA
- Office they’re running for: Congress, GA-13
- Kids’ ages: 17 and 19
- First time running for office?: First time running for Congress, but not first time running for office
- Website
What does a typical campaign day look like for you — and where does your family fit into it?
My campaign days include lots of phone calls, campaign meetings, and campaign events. Sometimes my daughter joins me and we eat “dinner” at the event or afterward, and sometimes it means coming home and winding down over some takeout with the teenager just before bed. Campaign season is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, where you’re just trying to make all the pieces fit.
What’s something about running for office that you didn’t expect — and that you wish someone had warned you about?
It takes up a LOT of time. Like way more time than you’re imagining when people tell you it takes up a lot of time. I wish someone would have warned me that if I wasn’t intentional about fitting in food and self-care, you can find yourself burnt out!
Has being a mother shaped how you think about the issues you’re running on? If so, how?
Absolutely! There is very little policy I can think of that I don’t think about how it might impact my family, along with the families in my community. Whether it’s healthcare policy, where I think about how costs can add up the moment a child gets sick, or lack of meaningful gun violence prevention policy, where I pray — as my daughter leaves for school — that I don’t get a call about a gun violence incident at her school, my family shapes how I view policy.
What has been the hardest sacrifice your family has made for this campaign — and how have you handled that as a parent?
Time. There is so much time spent campaigning that you just can’t get back. It’s why I prioritize making time for family and having some firm boundaries — like Sunday equals family day.
What would you want your kids to take away from watching you do this?
That it is worth it to do what we can to make this world a better place. We can do hard things, and we can do them well, especially with our support system.
Dr. Jasmine Clark is endorsed by Vote Mama, an organization dedicated to breaking down the structural barriers that keep moms out of office — and building the kind of political power that actually reflects the realities of American family life. Learn more about Dr. Clark here.
