In a city of political dynasties – among them, Daleys and Madigans - Jesse Jackson Jr. has a last name with particular political resonance.
A scion of one of the most prominent African-American families in Chicago, Jackson is the son of longtime civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson Sr. and also the husband of Chicago Alderwoman Sandi Jackson.
Until 48 hours ago, the seven-term congressman who has been a strong advocate for Chicago through his spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, was seen as having a good shot at becoming Barack Obama’s successor in the U.S. Senate.
But after being identified as “Candidate 5” - the Senate hopeful whose emissary reportedly offered campaign cash for the seat, according to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich - Jackson may be politically tainted despite his strong denial that he offered the governor anything in exchange for being chosen.
In a hastily called press conference yesterday, Jackson said he had been assured by prosecutors that he is not a target of the investigation and that he is fully cooperating with the probe.
“I did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich on my behalf,” he said. “I never sent a message or an emissary to the governor to make an offer, to plead my case or to propose a deal about a U.S. Senate seat, period.”
According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 31 Blagojevich was overheard saying of Candidate 5: “We were approached ‘pay to play,’ that, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him a senator.”
At another point, the governor says he thinks he might be able to get something “tangible, up front” from Candidate 5 in return for the appointment
Jackson confirmed yesterday that he and Blagojevich met for 90 minutes Monday to discuss the job – a day before the governor was arrested on corruption charges. Jackson said it was his first conversation with Blagojevich in four years.
“I presented my record, my qualifications and my vision,” Jackson said. “Despite what he may have been looking for, that’s all I had to offer.”
Federal officials cautioned that the recordings did not pick up any conversations with Candidate 5 or the emissary, so they have no evidence, other than statements made by Blagojevich, about whether Candidate 5 made any improper approaches.
But even the suggestion of influence-peddling may make the selection of Jackson politically radioactive.
“I think this whole episode . . .means he probably could not be appointed by a sitting governor in Illinois,” political commentator David Gergen said on CNN. “He could win the seat in an open election. And that’s … the direction in which the state legislature is going in Illinois.”
It is not likely to be lost on Illinois voters, moreover, that the Jackson children have often had powerful backers. Jesse Jr.’s younger brother, Yusef, has partnered with supermarket billionaire and prominent Democratic fundraiser Ronald W. Burkle, as well as with beer magnate August Bush IV, for several entrepreneurial endeavors. And during the 1990s, Yusef and Jonathan Jackson pulled off the purchase of a profitable Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Chicago with some powerful backers.
Jesse Jr. himself benefited from his father’s fame and contacts when he was first elected to Congress in a 1995 special election to replace imprisoned former Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds.
But in the years since, he has developed his own power base. Through his spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, he has been a watchdog for the interests of the South Side of Chicago, in particular. And he has often clashed with the city’s power structure, for instance, over his support of a third Chicago airport.
Jackson, whose sister Santita was a high school friend of Michelle Obama’s, has also been an ardent supporter of Barack Obama, serving as national co-chair of his presidential campaign, although that sometimes put him at odds with his father. This summer, for instance, Jesse Jr. repudiated a crude off-air comment his father made about the presidential candidate during a break in taping for a television show.
For more background on Chicago’s players, see Muckety’s list of Chicago’s most networked people.
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