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If you were expecting state Rep. Earl Jones  to mope in the face of his primary defeat Tuesday, prepare for disappointment.

“I feel good about some of the possibilities now,” Jones said Wednesday.

The four-term incumbent said he did have a few down moments after realizing he had lost the Democratic primary for House District 60 to first-time candidate Marcus Brandon. The disappointment faded, Jones said, as he realized that leaving the legislature gives him time for other pursuits.

“I’ve talked about starting an Earl Jones Institute for the Advancement of Human Society,” he said.

 Jones said the institute could be modeled on a think tank named for former Gov. Jim Hunt  and perhaps be attached to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. It could work on issues of social justice and science and public policy, he said.

Brandon faces a general election challenge from Republican Lonnie Wilson  of High Point.

Jones will serve until January. As for his political career, he said that may be done — for now.

“I still had that yearning in 2002 when I ran for the state House,” Jones said. “I don’t have it as much now.”

When Jones ran in 2002, he was barely a year removed from losing his bid for a 10th term on the Greensboro City Council. Some voters said they felt Jones had lost touch with the concerns of constituents.

Political insiders sounded that same note as they picked apart a loss in which Jones won only 6 of the 28 precincts that make up House District 60.

“I think that’s very obvious from the result,” said the Rev. Cardes Brown.

Brown backed Brandon early on and said Jones had fallen into a trap of being concerned with one or two issues rather than listening to the needs of constituents.

“The voters made clear they expected more,” Brown said.

Jones chalked up his defeat to a low turnout — only about 5 percent of those eligible voted — and said his supporters had become complacent.

When asked if his vocal support for returning video poker to some sort of legalized status had hurt his chances, Jones said no.

Pledging to push the issue during this summer’s short session of the General Assembly, Jones pointed to polls showing most residents favor legalizing and taxing the machines rather than having them proliferate due to legal gray areas.

But others said Jones’ devotion to the issue cost him votes.

“That was an issue that did not resonate with most people,” said High Point Councilwoman Bernita Sims , who also works with the Black Leadership Roundtable of High Point. “The people who were going to the polls, they wanted to know what you are going to do about jobs.”

Sims credited Brandon with working hard to win votes in High Point. The district crosses from Greensboro through Pleasant Garden into High Point, and Sims said it is drawn to favor High Point-based candidates like Brandon.

For the past year, Jones has led a House committee dealing with local government issues and a 10-member group of lawmakers who represent Guilford County. He was recently appointed to head the House science committee. But he never parlayed those positions into accomplishments he could trumpet to voters.

In addition to video poker, Jones had been involved in a variety of more exotic issues at the General Assembly: funding for stem cell research, legalizing medical marijuana, public funding of elections and a measure dealing with the containment of dangerous reptiles.

“He’s out there doing issues like video poker, like medical marijuana, stuff that you can’t really get away with if you’re not out there taking care of the home fires,” said Bill Burckley , a former Greensboro councilman and political consultant who worked for Jones.

Burckley said Brandon’s fundraising success last summer should have put Jones on alert, but the incumbent waited until the last two months to raise money.

“(Jones) did some direct mail, but the problem is he didn’t do any grass-roots politics,” Burckley said. “(Brandon) spent a year going door to door and doing things among the grass roots.”

Brandon credited his success to knocking on doors and helping voters get to the polls. Among his strategies, Brandon said, was targeting younger voters who were less likely to have long-standing loyalty to Jones or be influenced by groups such as the Simkins PAC, in which Jones is a participant.

“We had a message that we wanted sustainable jobs that would allow people to buy homes and send kids to college,” Brandon said.

Brandon did hit Jones on the video poker issue. As Jones tried to sell the games as a way to head off cuts to state education spending, Brandon answered back that the state-run lottery was supposed to provide for education funding and has not lived up to that promise.

“Our education message tied in with how video poker is not the answer,” Brandon said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker @news-record.com