Jeff Jackson (politician)

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Jeff Jackson
JeffJackson2019.jpeg
Member of the North Carolina Senate
from the 37th district
Assumed office
May 6, 2014
Preceded byDan Clodfelter
Personal details
Born
Jeffrey Neale Jackson

(1982-09-12) September 12, 1982 (age 38)[1][2]
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Marisa
Children3
EducationEmory University (BA)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (JD)
WebsiteCampaign website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service2002–present
RankUS-O4 insignia.svg Major
UnitNorth Carolina Army National Guard
United States Army Reserve
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan

Jeffrey Neale Jackson (born September 12, 1982) is an American politician, attorney, and major in the North Carolina National Guard. A Democrat, he has represented the 37th district in the North Carolina Senate since 2014.

In 2002, Jackson enlisted in the United States Army Reserve and served in the Kandahar Province during the War in Afghanistan. He now serves in the Judge Advocate General's Corps with the Army National Guard.[3]

After graduating from law school, Jackson worked as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County. He is of counsel at Womble Bond Dickinson.

Jackson is a candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina.[4]

Early life[]

Raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Jackson earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in philosophy from Emory University. He also earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.[5]

Earlier career and military service[]

Jackson signed up for the United States Army Reserve in 2002. Jackson currently works as a business litigator at Womble Bond Dickinson in Charlotte.[6] Jackson also continues to serve in the North Carolina Army National Guard as a major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.[7][8]

Prior to joining the state Senate, Jackson worked as a prosecutor in Gaston County, North Carolina. He resigned upon joining the senate, as the state constitution prohibits serving as an elected official and a prosecutor simultaneously.[9]

North Carolina Senate[]

When Sen. Dan Clodfelter resigned to become Mayor of Charlotte in 2014, his vacancy in the state Senate had to be filled by local Democratic precinct members. Jackson sought the office, along with three other candidates. Of 49 votes, Jackson received 25, officially winning by one vote. Jackson was also chosen to replace Clodfelter as the Democratic nominee on the November 2014 general election ballot. Because no other person had filed to run against Clodfelter for the seat, Jackson ran unopposed for a full two-year term.[10] Jackson was re-elected to his second full term in 2016, winning with 68% of the vote against Bob Diamond.[11]

Jackson gained national attention when he was the only legislator to show up for work on a snow day in February 2015.[12]

He supports significantly expanding pre-K education programs.[13] In 2017, Jackson introduced a bill to repeal the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as HB2.[14]

Under previous North Carolina law, women could not legally revoke their consent to engage in sexual intercourse once that act has consensually begun, meaning that, according to Jackson, North Carolina was "the only state in the country where no doesn't really mean no".[15] After several years of introducing a bill to close the consent loophole, it passed unanimously in 2019.[16][17]

Jackson faced his first competitive race in 2020.[18] His district had been significantly redrawn and was now a D+2 district, in which a Democratic candidate would only be expected to win by two points.[18] Jackson was called up for National Guard duty during the final weeks of his campaign, so his wife, Marisa, became the face of the campaign for the closing weeks.[19] Jackson beat Nichols 55% to 41%.[20]

2022 U.S. Senate campaign[]

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina

Various news outlets mentioned Jackson as a potential candidate against Republican incumbent Richard Burr in North Carolina's 2016 U.S. Senate election. Jackson declined to run and Burr won re-election.[21][22] He was also mentioned as a potential challenger to North Carolina's other Republican Senator, Thom Tillis in 2020.

On January 26, 2021, Jackson announced he would be running to replace retiring U.S. Senator Richard Burr in the 2022 United States Senate election.[23] He announced in his campaign announcement video that he would be running a "100 county campaign" in which he would visit each of North Carolina's 100 counties.[4] It was reported that his campaign had raised over $500,000 within 48 hours of his announcement.[24]

Personal life[]

Jackson is married to Marisa, a marketing director. They have three children.[25]

In 2020, Jackson was named one of Charlotte Magazine's Charlotteans of the Year.[26]

References[]

  1. ^ Graff, Michael (January 26, 2021). "Exclusive: How Charlotte's favorite millennial politician dad decided to run for Senate". Charlotte Axios. Retrieved April 2, 2021. He was in college on 9/11, one day shy of 19 years old.
  2. ^ Bowler, Taylor (October 1, 2020). "Parent to Know: N.C. Sen. Jeff Jackson". Charlotte Parent. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Dunn, Andrew. "Jeff Jackson is the N.C. politician most likely to become president". Longleaf Politics. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Murphy, Brian. "Charlotte Democrat Jeff Jackson to jump into U.S. Senate race". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  5. ^ DePriest, Joe (May 3, 2014). "Democrats elect Jeff Jackson to replace former state Sen. Clodfelter". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  6. ^ "Jeff Jackson". wcsr.com. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  7. ^ Sen, Ari (August 5, 2017). "Mumpower, Jackson debate state education funding". Citizen-Times. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  8. ^ Steve, Harrison (January 26, 2021). "Mecklenburg State Sen. Jeff Jackson Is Running for U.S. Senate in 2022". WFAE 90.7 - Charlotte's NPR News Source. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Morrill, Jim (June 9, 2014). "After winning N.C. Senate seat, he loses day job". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  10. ^ Profile (2), CharlotteObserver.com, May 3, 2014.
  11. ^ "North Carolina 37th District State Senate Results: Jeff Jackson Wins". Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  12. ^ "One way to spend a snow day: Pass all the laws you want". newsobserver. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  13. ^ Park, Jackie (July 13, 2015). "Sen. Jeff Jackson is an Army captain, attorney, dad and social media sensation". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  14. ^ Rose, Alex (February 1, 2017). "3 Democratic senators file bill for 'full, clean' repeal of House Bill 2". Fox 8. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  15. ^ "This loophole fails to protect some rape victims in North Carolina". NBC News. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  16. ^ ""It's disgusting": Loopholes remain in North Carolina's sexual assault laws". NBC News. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  17. ^ Padilla, Mariel (November 2, 2019). "North Carolina Lawmakers Pass Bill to Close Sexual Assault Loopholes (Published 2019)". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b "He cruised to 3 easy victories. Now Sen. Jeff Jackson faces the fight of his political life". www.charlotteobserver.com. October 22, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  19. ^ Staff, WBTV Web. "Sen. Jackson leaving for training, turning campaign operations to wife". www.wbtv.com.
  20. ^ "NC SBE Election Contest Details". er.ncsbe.gov.
  21. ^ Cahn, Emily (March 13, 2015). "Democrats Prep North Carolina Contingency Plan". Roll Call. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  22. ^ Schoof, Renee (May 29, 2015). "Wanted: Democrat to seek N.C. Senate seat; faint of heart need not apply". McClatchy DC. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  23. ^ Harrison, Steve (January 26, 2021). "Mecklenburg State Sen. Jeff Jackson Is Running for U.S. Senate in 2022". WFAE. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  24. ^ Joe Bruno [@JoeBrunoWSOC9] (January 28, 2021). "State Senator Jeff Jackson's campaign says he has raised more than $500,000 in less than 48 hours. Per the campaign: 90% of donations from North Carolinians, 78% of contributions under $100 and no contributions from PACs or self funding #ncsen #ncpol @wsoctv" (Tweet). Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ "Get to Know Jeff Jackson". Charlotte Parent. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  26. ^ "2020 Charlottean of the Year: N.C. Sen. Jeff Jackson". November 17, 2020.

External links[]

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