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Novembe7 2nd , 2023 Political Note #597 Jeff Jackson North Carolina Attorney General
2024 General Election
Sometimes there are unintended consequences. The Supreme Court of North Carolina rejected the legislature’s Congressional districting map and imposed, for the 2022 election, a new map. The result was seven Republican Members of Congress and seven Democratic Members of Congress in this state with a Democratic Governor, a Democratic Attorney General, and two Republican Senators.
The voters changed the North Carolina Supreme Court. Now the Court has a 5-2 Republican majority instead of a 4-3 Democratic majority. And now North Carolina has a new Congressional map which the new Court found acceptable.
The North Carolina Journal describes the results of the new map: =
“Under new congressional map, Republicans would likely win 10 seats in 2024 and have a chance to win the northeastern 1st Congressional District (NC-1), while Democrats likely would win three seats and also have a good chance of holding onto NC-1.
In this scenario, Democrat US Reps. Valerie Foushee, Don Davis, Alma Adams, and Deborah Ross have clear places to run. However, Democrat U.S. Reps. Wiley Nickel and Jeff Jackson would likely have to primary someone from their own party if they wanted to stay in Congress. Democrat US Rep. Kathy Manning would need to run in a Republican leaning district.”
Don Davis will run for reelection. An African American Air Force veteran with a doctorate in education, he has taught at East Carolina University. A win might be a little tougher than it would have been under the old map. He will have to raise a little more money. Contribute more money to his campaign.
Kathy Manning will run for reelection. She has lost before running in a Republican oriented district. She is married to a Greensboro businessman with a national business. She has a JD from Michigan. Though she practiced law some, her pre-Congressional focus was as a national Jewish communal leader. Do not count her out. And contribute.
Whether he runs for election or not (He says he won’t dignify the new map by announcing which district he would run in), Wiley Nickel will lead the law suit. He and those who join him will have to demonstrate that the Republicans relied on race in creating their map. Republicans have blocked off access to their planning conversations. But this issue is one of the few that the US Supreme Court has sided with progressives about. Wiley Nickel will want money for the law suit more than he will want money for a Congressional race he is bound to lose. The money is fungible. Donate.
Jeff Jackson will not run for reelection. Just when the Democrats were poised, with relatively weak candidates, to lose the Attorney General office for the first time since the 19th century, Jeff Jackson has propelled himself into that race. If he wins, with your help, and if Josh Stein is elected governor, with your help, the battle between the Republican North Carolina legislature and the Democratic executive branch will continue.
Southern politician that he may be, Jeffrey Neale Jackson was not named Jefferson in honor of either the former President of the United State Thomas Jefferson or the former President of the Confederate States of America. The name Jeff Jackson has a ring that might remind someone of the first populist President of the United States Andrew Jackson. Jeff Jackson’s parents are not Southern populists. They did not intend to evoke Andrew Jackson. Their baby’s first name is Jeffrey. The middle name, Neale, is a family name.
Far from being populists, Jeff Jackson’s father was a doctor who got his MD from Wayne State University in Detroit. His mom was a nurse. Jeff Jackson went to Emory for a BA and an MA in philosophy (not a typical course of study for a prospective politician) followed by his JD from the University of North Carolina. He joined the Army Reserves, had a tour of duty in Kandahar, and still serves the Judge Advocate Corp with the rank of major. Before running for the state senate, he was in private practice in North Carolina and served as a prosecutor.
Jeff Jackson began his Senate term in 2014 when the incumbent was elected Mayor of Charlotte. The mayor’s replacement as state senator would be selected by a majority of the 49 Democratic precinct members. Jeff Jackson was selected with 25 votes. He was unopposed in the November 2014 election and won handily in 2016. In 2020, after redistricting, he faced a competitive race, complicated because he was called up for Reserve Duty in the midst of the campaign. Despite his absence from the campaign, he won with 55% of the vote.
Three pieces of state legislative work are particularly worth mentioning. Jeff Jackson sought to expand pre-kindergarten programs throughout the state. He sought to repeal North Carolina legislation which allows states to override anti-discrimination ordinances passed by local jurisdictions. He succeeded in passing a law eliminated North Carolina’s provision that precluded women from withdrawing consent to sex once intercourse had begun. As some said, North Carolina joined the other 49 states in saying that ‘No means no.”
While running for Congress, Jeff Jackson described the road to eliminating childhood poverty as increasing the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid, increasing state support for affordable housing, and increasing state funding for public schools, public universities, and historically black colleges and universities. His second priority was to protect the American democracy by requiring retired legislators to wait looking before they become lobbyists, banning Members of Congress from trading individual stocks, protecting and expanding voting rights, local election preparedness toward the goal of making it easier to vote, not harder.
Jeff Jackson’s Congressional goals are consistent with his goals in running for Attorney General. His opening statement in his campaign is “I’m running for attorney general, and I’m going to use that job to go after political corruption.” More than most, Jeff Jackson’s voice resonates. He became a Tik Tok figure explaining, sometimes awkwardly over the noise his family generates, gerrymandering or Medicaid expansion. Astonishingly, he has a following of 1.6 million people.
Jeff Jackson will have funds for this campaign. Immediately, he became the favorite for the Democratic nomination. In the general election, he will need to defeat fellow Member of Congress, Republican Dan Bishop, who demonstrating his good fellowship and his view of Tik Tok. He welcomed Jeff Jackson to the race as a Chinese Media Star.
Tik Tok was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but is not owned by China. Sixty percent of the company is owned by institutional investors like the Carlyle Group, of which George W Bush is a former Board Member. Nevertheless, the 40% of the company owned by Chinese entrepreneurs who could conceivably access information, has made the US Government and the NC government ban its use on government owned computers, phones, and networks. Jeff Jackson explaining things on Tik Tok is no more of a security risk that the kids who dance on TikTok.
The focus of Bishop’s opposition to Jeff Jackson is to claim that the Democrat is a “woke liberal” who wants to protect criminals with the same “policies that ruined San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.” Maybe Bishop can get somewhere with that approach. It does not persuade this New Yorker. North Carolina, a state that is slightly larger than New York City, has substantially more major crimes that the urban center which has earned a reputation for its safety as well as its “Big Appleness.”
Dan Bishop made his name as the creator of the so-called bathroom bill which limited the use of gendered public facilities to people of the gender to which they were born. In response to the public and corporate backlash to that proposal, Bishop compared LGBTQ activists to the Taliban and said he would introduce, into the state legislature, a proposal that would make it a “crime to threaten, intimidate, or retaliate against a present or former North Carolina official in the course of, or on account of, the performance of his or her duties.”
Yahoo described the upcoming race for North Carolina General as one of the most interesting in the country. They described both candidates as up and comers in their political parties. Of Bishop, Yahoo said “He’s successfully tapped into something that has worked for Republicans – anger and divisiveness directed at perceived political enemies.”
In contrast, Yahoos said of Jeff Jackson, that he “is a reminder that voters once preferred candidates who talked about and amplified character and principles. He looks for ways to find common ground, using logic and humor to appeal to voters instead of sowing division…”
Help Jeff Jackson get elected as North Carolina’s Attorney General. Bishop raised $900,000 in the first ten days after he announced in August. He has raised more since. On October 1, Jeff Jackson had $700,000 available for his Congressional run. He has some catching up to do.
Other Candidates to support – NC races
NC 01 Endangered Don Davis had $500,000 to Republican Sandy Smith’s $300,000 as of October 1. Len’s Political Note #577
NC 06 Highly endangered Kathy Manning had $600,000 as of October 1. We do not know which Republican she will be running against in this now Republican leaning district.
NC 13 Highly endangered Wiley Nickel had $900,000 as of October 1. Two Republicans had about $350,000; one had $600,000. We do not know what seat Wiley Nickel will run for if any. We do know he will be combative on behalf of North Carolinians. Len’s Political Note #551
Governor Josh Stein is the current Attorney General. On June 30, a news release indicated that he had raised just under $6 million. Help him stay ahead of the game. Len’s Political Note #571
Attorney General Jeff Jackson has just announced his candidacy. At the beginning of October, he had $700,000 available for a Congressional race. His opponent had raised $900,000 in the 10 days after his announcement.
State Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs is a recent appointment by Governor Roy Cooper. Just to stay even, Democrats will have to elect her in November, 2024.
Last minute donations for the election tomorrow
Not Much Time left for 2023
2023 Elections are coming. Help Democratic candidates now.
Kentucky election day November 7, 2023
Mississippi election day November 7, 2023
Pennsylvania election day November 7, 2023
Virginia election day November 7, 2023
Louisiana run off election day November 18, 2023
Mississippi run off I no one exceeds 50%. November 28, 2023
November 7 is a few days away and November 18 and November 28 come soon after that.
Democrats for Governor:
Incumbent Andy Beshear Kentucky, Formerly, the Attorney General. Len’s Political Note #533
Brandon Presley Mississippi, Formerly one of three elected public service commissioners. Len’s Political Note #535
State Supreme Court Justice:
Dan McCaffrey Pennsylvania, Currently an Appellate Judge. Len’s Political Note #571
Attorney General
Colonel Pamela Stevenson Kentucky, former Senior Official in the Air Force Judge Advocate system and state rep Len’s Political Note #561
Greta Kemp Martin Mississippi, Litigation Director for Disability Rights Mississippi running against a Republican who truly deserves to be defeated. Len’s Political Note #563
Treasurer
Dustin Granger Louisiana, Financial Advisor. Len’s Political Note #562.
Dustin Granger was the only Democrat, in any state-wide race in Louisiana, to get more than 30% of the vote in the multi-party primary. With 32% of the vote, he trailed former State Rep John Fleming’s 44%. Dustin Granger is still in the race. I am still donating to him. So should you.
Secretary of State
Buddy Wheatley Kentucky, Former Fire Chief and former state rep. Len’s Political Note #582
Ty Pinkins. Mississippi, a lawyer who, after a career in the military, worked with the Mississippi Center for Justice to help Black farm workers in the pay equal to that white South African imported to do the same jobs.
For a Democratic legislature in Virginia than can stand up to a Republican governor make some last-minute donations.
Virginia House of Delegates: Kimberly Pope Adams, Jessica Anderson, Joshua Cole, Michael Feggans, Susanna Gibson, Josh Thomas. See Len’s Political Note #573 of July 6, 2023
Virginia State Senate: Clint Jenkins, Monty Mason, Russet Perry, Danica Roem, Schuyler VanValkenburg. Len’s Political Note #573 of July 10, 2023
