Jonathan Jackson mulls DNC Chairmanship  

Congressman Jonathan Jackson

U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson

Four Congressional Black Caucus members back white candidate

Congressman Jonathan Jackson made headlines this week as he is considering a run for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. But he’s not getting any support from four members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have endorsed Martin O’Malley, a white candidate who served as governor of Maryland and ran for president in 2016. 

During the holidays, California Congressman Ro Khanna on X floated Jackson as a possible candidate for chair of the DNC. Khanna said “There is a movement to draft @CongressJackson as DNC Chair among several of my colleagues. If he makes the race, I am all in. He understands where we fell short and what a true 50-state strategy looks like.” 

Since that posting, Jackson has given interviews to the media, addressing comments saying he should run for the position.  

But Jackson has not officially entered the race. Should he do so, Jackson would be the only Black candidate in a race where all those viewed as top candidates are white. One candidate is a woman.  That reality has gained the attention of some members of the Democratic Party, given that it recently supported Kamala Harris as the first Black woman to run for U.S. president. 

On Monday, January 6, NBC News reported that four members of the Congressional Black Caucus have endorsed O’Malley for the position. They are former Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, of Ohio, who was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Joe Biden’s administration, and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus when she was in Congress; Congressman Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, former Chair of the House committee that investigated the January 6 riots at the Capitol; and Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, of Missouri. Congressional Black Caucus Institute board member Lacy Johnson is also endorsing O’Malley.  

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In a statement to NBC News, the Black leaders said, “Democrats are at a crossroads, and we need a change agent now.” 

In a statement, O’Malley called the news a “high honor.”  

O’Malley, a former governor of Maryland who ran for president in 2016 and most recently was head of the Social Security Administration, is centering his pitch to lead the national party committee on kitchen-table issues, and his operational expertise. 

Should he decide to run for the DNC chairmanship, Jackson also has stiff competition from two candidates the media has labeled the frontrunners in the race.  

They are Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, both widely viewed as frontrunners in the race.  

Other candidates are New York state Senator James Skoufis and Marianne Williamson, a spiritual guru and author who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020 and 2024. She is the only woman in the race.  

Black voters make up the core of the Democratic National Party, but in the recent presidential election, more Black and Latino voters did not vote. Many supported Republican Donald Trump at the polls after years of growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic political party, which some believe no longer addresses the concerns and needs of Black America and the working class.  

Since Harris lost to Trump in November, Democrats have been looking for answers on how to rebuild a fractured political party accused of catering to the liberal elite. 

With his famous father and well-regarded surname, and the family’s long history of fighting for the poor and disenfranchised, Jackson as Chair could help bring some Black voters back to the Democratic Party. But political analysts view Jackson as a longshot should he enter the race. There are concerns that the Party may turn off more Black voters should Jackson lose the election, and a white candidate replaces outgoing Chair Jaime Harrison, who is Black.  

Jackson said he will decide this weekend whether to enter the race. The Congressman did not respond to text messages from the Crusader by press time for the newspaper’s print edition.  

Time is not on Jackson’s side. The Democratic Party will elect a Chair on February 1, and should Jackson decide to run, he will have just two weeks to mount a campaign for the job. 

Jackson said several colleagues in Congress have urged him to run. On Monday Jackson told ABC 7 that he planned to call Governor JB Pritzker, who many expect will one day run for president and would be a good ally. 

But Jackson and some politicians in Congress believe the 50-state strategy can help put the Democratic Party back on track. That strategy involves Democratic candidates campaigning in all states instead of swing states and those they see as “winnable.”  

Jackson told ABC 7 Chicago in the Monday interview that in this last election, several southern states were just ignored, considered as Republican strongholds. But the swing states grabbed all the attention. 

“When we lost Michigan, lost Ohio, lost Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, like, how? Republicans have now invaded. This is like that carp species that is coming out of the Illinois River. It’s just wrong. It’s invasive,” Jackson said. 

“I’ve been involved in campaigns, actually, for the last 40 years, from 1984 to 2024, I’ve seen the growth of the Party. I’ve seen the change of the Parties. I’ve got a lot of relationships across the country,” Jackson said. 

Jackson said his motivation to run for DNC chair also comes from frustration over the Party’s efforts to help Vice President Kamala Harris.  

“But I started seeing the wheels come off the cart, if you will, during the presidential election,” Jackson said. 

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