E. W. Jackson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids E. W. Jackson
Born	Earl Walker Jackson (1952-01-13) January 13, 1952 (age 72) Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	University of Massachusetts Boston (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Political party	Democratic (Before 1980s) Republican (1980s–present)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1970–1973
Rank	Corporal

Earl Walker Jackson Sr. (born January 13, 1952) is an American conservative politician, Protestant minister, and lawyer in Virginia who is a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries. He was the Republican Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2013. Jackson unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in Virginia in the 2012 and 2018 elections. He is head pastor at Exodus Faith Ministries, located in Chesapeake, Virginia and founder of Staying True to America's National Destiny, a Christian political organization.

Early life

Jackson was born on January 13, 1952, in Chester, Pennsylvania, and he is the great-grandson of slaves from Orange County, Virginia. His parents separated when he was a child, and he spent most of his childhood in a foster home.

Military service, education, and career

Jackson joined the United States Marine Corps in 1970. He was honorably discharged as a corporal in 1973. Following his graduation from the University of Massachusetts Boston, he attended Harvard University's Law School where he earned his J.D. degree.

He practiced law in the Boston area for 15 years. Jackson also studied theology at Harvard University's Divinity School. Jackson said he was asked to leave his first ministerial position in 1982, at a Baptist church in Cambridge, after two years. He said of his tenure there, "It was an older congregation, and I was a young 27-year-old firebrand. It was not a good mix." He remained in Boston until the late 1990s as a practicing attorney and preacher.

While in Boston, he appeared on several radio shows on WHDH and hosted a nationally syndicated talk show, Earl Jackson Across America.

While in Boston, Jackson faced money troubles as he spent nine years trying to rescue a bankrupt radio station, which he took over and converted into a gospel station. Difficulties resulted from extended legal battles with the Federal Communications Commission. In 1993, Jackson was forced to enter bankruptcy protection. The protracted battles with the FCC contributed to his belief that the government unreasonably interferes in the free market.

He has taught commercial law at Strayer University's campuses in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

Ministry

In June 1998, Jackson was consecrated a bishop. Later that year, he and his family moved to Chesapeake, Virginia, and began holding weekly Bible studies. In 1999, Jackson and his wife founded Exodus Faith Ministries, a nondenominational church. The church rented a space in a storefront location, but was forced to move due to zoning regulations, an incident that helped to shape his concerns of "government overreach". The church rents a room at a Chesapeake hotel, where Jackson preaches every Sunday. Jackson founded Chesapeake's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, now in its 14th year.

Black community

In 2012, Jackson generated national attention with a recorded video appeal to blacks to leave the Democratic Party, claiming that it had "abandoned the values of the black community" and that blacks had developed a "slavish devotion" to the party. He has also spoken in black churches on issues facing the country.

Jackson has claimed many black leaders, such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, as well as Barack Obama, "are telling black kids what they can’t do." He opposed Obama's perceived "emphasis on race" and has said "the one thing I at least hoped for from the president—and I didn't have much hope for him—was that he'd bring us together. But he has divided us."

In response to rebukes from some black leaders over his comments, Jackson said, "In order to correct something, you've got to speak to it. ... [T]he last thing in the world I'm trying to do, as some have suggested, is to make white people feel good. I'm trying to make black folks, particularly youth, wake up to the possibilities of a life" of prosperity.

Jackson rejects the label of "African-American", calling himself "an American of African descent". He said he is proud of his heritage but says "I just think we've got to come together as Americans, as one family. So I do point that out because that's the reality of it.

Party affiliation

Jackson had been a lifelong Democrat; however, in the 1980s, he embraced conservatism. He said of his decision, "I had a crisis of conscience. Can I be in a party that holds these views that are antithetical to my worldview? In my personal opinion, it is difficult if you are a Bible-believing Christian to reconcile that to some of the positions that the Democrat Party has taken."

Jackson has claimed that Democratic Party elites are "driving an agenda to rid the party and the country of God," and has claimed that his policies are closer to those of the "average Democrat in Virginia" than the Democratic Party itself.

2012 candidacy for U.S. Senate

Jackson speaking in 2011

In May 2011, Jackson announced he was running for the United States Senate seat in Virginia in the 2012 election. George Allen won the June 2012 primary; Jackson received 5% of the vote.

2013 Lieutenant Governor candidacy

Campaign for Republican nomination

Jackson announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on December 1, 2012, at the Republican Party of Virginia Advance in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On January 10, 2013, Jackson released his "Engage and Reform Agenda" which the campaign called "commonsense reforms [that] reassert the principles of our Constitution and Let Liberty Light the Way for Virginia."

On May 18, 2013, Jackson was nominated as the Republican Party candidate for the position, at the party convention in Richmond. The nomination process took four ballots and ten hours of voting. Jackson led in each round of balloting, reaching a majority on the final ballot. Jackson had raised the least money of the seven candidates for the Republican nomination. The Richmond Times-Dispatch called his victory a "stunning upset" over the other candidates. Jackson is the first non-white to be nominated to a statewide office by Virginia Republicans since 1988.

General election campaign

Through the second quarter of 2013 ending on June 30, 2013, Jackson raised $375,324. Most of his contributions were from small donors, indicating a large grassroots base. From July 1 through August 31, 2013, Jackson raised $303,220. Jackson spent $1.3 million throughout the campaign cycle.

Jackson's education plan included calls for school vouchers and a constitutional amendment allowing public money to help fund private schools. Republican nominee for governor Ken Cuccinelli's plan included the same proposals, and Jackson said he strongly supported Cuccinelli's plan. Jackson, whose wife is a public school teacher in Newport News, has called for a constitutional amendment for equal resources for homeschooled students.

Jackson has backed the Farm Freedom Act, a bill proposed by Delegate Brenda Pogge which would allow family farmers to sell their goods without having to go through state and federal regulations, which restrict direct sale of goods to consumers. He pointed to the sharp decline in farms grossing under $100,000 a year, saying it was a result of onerous bureaucracy and regulations.

Jackson's campaign launched a Women for Jackson coalition composed of women across the state supporting Jackson's aim to "fight for greater parental choice in our children’s educational opportunities, stand strong for health standards that keep women’s clinics safe, and help create an economic environment in Virginia that helps people from all walks of life."

Jackson was endorsed by the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, Gun Owners of America, and retired NASCAR racer Morgan Shepherd.

Northam defeated Jackson in the November 5, 2013 general election.

2018 candidacy for U.S. Senate

Jackson ran for senate again in 2018, but he only garnered 12% of the vote in the Republican Party's open primary and failed to advance in the general election.

2024 presidential candidacy

On July 14, 2023, Jackson announced his bid for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2024 election. He is campaigning on a right-wing, Christian conservative platform, proposing four new amendments to the United States Constitution if he is elected. .....