* Juliana Stratton’s campaign over the weekend…
Today, with just three days left before Election Day, the family of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, announced that he had personally endorsed Juliana Stratton for United States Senate. The reverend made his final endorsements and shared those preferences with the family before his passing in February. He is joined by his son, Yusef Jackson in endorsing Stratton.
Isabel covered this earlier today at the top of her morning briefing. Basically, the Jackson family was perplexed by the whole thing.
* And now Yusef Jackson, who is specifically named in the Stratton release, is walking it all back…
I’ve asked the Stratton campaign for comment and will update if I hear anything back. But, wow, what a mess.
…Adding… This sample ballot was apparently being handed out by Operation PUSH folks on Saturday at a headquarters event…
More pages here.
…Adding… Juliana for Illinois campaign…
Juliana spoke on Saturday at Rainbow PUSH for a Women’s History Month event and officials told her she received the endorsements. Organizers shared the sample election ballot that was already being distributed and encouraged her to share the news.
Juliana is spending the final hours of this campaign talking to voters and making sure every Illinoisan hears how she plans to take on Donald Trump and bring their voices to Washington.
…Adding… Yusef Jackson has released another statement…
Over the past 48 hours, there has been a lot of commotion about who my father, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. endorsed before his passing -just over a month ago. Among my Father’s proudest achievements was expanding civic participation and electing leaders who protected our democracy and advanced justice.
Earlier this year, despite ongoing challenges with mobility and his declining health, Reverend Jackson began the process of reviewing candidates and identifying those he intended to support in the upcoming primary election. However, he did not live long enough to finish the process.
Out of respect for my father, we decided not to publicly release his intended selections given the process had not been finalized. However, due to an internal miscommunication, a draft sample ballot was released by a staff
person who did not have authorization.
This unintentional error has set off unforeseen controversy. One that has unfortunately revolved around one candidate in particular.
I want to be very clear. We did not withdraw or retract our endorsement of any one candidate. Instead, we made clear that the document shared this weekend was not final and out of respect for my late father and in our family’s time of bereavement, we would not be confirming nor issuing political endorsements in this cycle.
I am disheartened that the topic of today’s political chatter has been focused on this instead of the issues that matter to everyday voters. Issues like affordability, healthcare, quality education, justice and equal rights. Those are the issues our family has spent decades fighting for and those are the issues voters should keep top of mind when they cast their ballots.
Please respect this as my final comments on this matter and please, in my father’s memory, VOTE. Our ancestors put their lives on the line so that we could participate in our democracy - to elect leaders who share our values, who will protect our democracy, and who will faithfully serve the people.
…Adding… Rep. Jackson walks his own comments back…
