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JODI JONES
Office history
Current office and 2026 campaign
Jodi Jones is the Washington County Commissioner for District 11, currently serving her second term 1. She is the Democratic candidate for re-election to the District 11 seat in the August 6, 2026 Washington County general election, and is the only candidate listed for the seat as of this writing 2.
Background and education
Jones holds a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh (1991) and a Ph.D. in child clinical psychology from Auburn University (1998); per her campaign biography, she was the first in her family to earn an advanced degree 3.
Career
Jones — legal name Jodi Polaha Jones — is a clinical/pediatric psychologist and Associate Professor in the Division of Primary Care Research at East Tennessee State University's Quillen College of Medicine, where she directs the university's Institute for Integrated Behavioral Health; she previously worked at the University of Nebraska Medical Center before joining ETSU's faculty in 2006 345. In 2025 she was named to Leadership Tennessee's yearlong Signature Program cohort 67.
Office history
Jones was elected to the Johnson City Development Authority board in 2017 4. In February 2017 she was among several nominees considered by the county commission to fill the District 4 seat vacated by David Tomita, but the appointment went to retired Chancellor Richard Johnson 8. Jones was elected to the Commission's District 11 seat in May 2018 — per her campaign biography, the first Democrat ever elected to the Washington County Commission 3. She was re-elected in 2022 and is seeking a third term in 2026 12.
Legislative record and accomplishments
As chair of the commission's Health, Education and Welfare Committee, Jones has led the county's process for allocating its opioid settlement funds — soliciting proposals for spending Washington County's roughly $530,000 share and working with the sheriff's office on proposals including a $186,000 pre-arrest diversion program and $142,644 to hire a full-time clinician for mental-health assessments at the county detention center 910.
Documented disputes and controversies
Jones was one of five commissioners who voted against the March 23, 2026 rezoning of 56 acres of BWXT property near Jonesborough for a depleted-uranium refining facility, which the commission approved 10-5. Before the vote, she said she had walked the proposed site and raised concerns that its hilly terrain was unsuited to a facility of that scale and that the project would bring disruptive industrial infrastructure into a quiet, rural neighborhood 1112.
Sources
Public filings
Candidates and officeholders are required by law to file campaign finance reports and statements of economic interest. The sites below don't support direct links to an individual record — search by last name on each.
Tennessee — campaign finance (search)
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State offices (Governor, TN Senate, TN House, State Executive Committee, statewide judiciary) —
Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.
Click Search for Candidates and PACs, enter last name “JONES”, and submit.
US House, US Senate, and Presidential candidates file with the FEC — see the federal section below. - County and municipal offices (County Mayor, Commissioner, Sheriff, School Board, court clerks, municipal alderman, etc.) — most major TN counties use the EasyVote portal. Select the relevant county and search by candidate name (“JONES”).
Tennessee — statement of interest
- Required for state and local officials and candidates — Tennessee Ethics Commission Conflict of Interest Search. Enter last name “JONES”and, if needed, select the applicable position.