The family of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who have been staunch supporters and advocates for the Democratic Party for decades, have suddenly retracted a key Democratic endorsement in a heated Democratic primary for a United States Senate seat in Illinois.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said that she was backed by Jackson, based on information she received regarding his potential decisions that had not been made public yet.
“Out of respect for my father, we decided not to publicly release his intended selections given the process had not been finalized,” said Yusef Jackson, his son, according to the outlet on Monday afternoon.
“Unfortunately, this weekend, a draft sample ballot that was in development was released without authorization. It is important to note that the Jackson Family does not issue political endorsements, nor do Rainbow PUSH or the Rainbow PUSH Coalition,” Jackson added.
However, Stratton went on a preemptive media blitz over the weekend touting her supposed endorsement from the late Rev. Jackson.
“And I just got notice that he made final personal endorsements before he passed away, and in his personal endorsement he endorsed me for United States Senate,” Stratton told MSNOW on Saturday while at the Rainbow/PUSH office in Chicago.
“That’s the kind of fight we need, someone who’s really gonna put the people at the center, I learned that from Rev. Jackson, and now I look forward to continuing to fighting for the people of Illinois when I get to the Senate,” she added.
In an X post promoting the MSNOW bit, she added that she “will work day and night to carry on his legacy for the people of Illinois when I get to the United States Senate.”
The Stratton campaign told The Daily Wire in a statement that “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,” the campaign added.
“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.”
However, representatives from Jackson continue to deny any such endorsement in a critical race to replaced the retiring longtime Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Reps. Robin Kelly, who is also vying for the Democratic primary, confirmed that the Jackson family has not given any official endorsements for the important race.
“You know, I’ve talked to a couple of his kids. They don’t know anything about it, so I don’t know. It is what it is,” Kelly told Politico on Sunday when asked about the endorsement.
However, the news of Jackson’s family suddenly going mum on any Democratic endorsements in the state of Illinois comes on the heels of a festering feud between Jackson’s family and former President Barack Obama (who launched his political career from Illinois).
Is there a connection?
Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, recently ripped into Obama after he said the ex-president used his father’s funeral as a sounding board to bash President Donald Trump.
In a scathing rebuke, Jackson Jr. lit into Obama (along with ex-Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Bill Clinton) for using his father’s memorial service to take shots at Trump.
Jackson Jr. said that Obama, who claimed to be “close” with the elder Jackson, didn’t really know his father, after they used their eulogies to bash the president, his policies, and his vision for America during Jackson’s memorial.
“Yesterday, I listened for several hours to three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson,” Jackson Jr. said Saturday during a private memorial service at Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters in Chicago.
“He maintained a tense relationship with the political order, not because the presidents were white or black, but the demands of our message, the demands of speaking for the least of these — those who are disinherited, the damned, the dispossessed, the disrespected — demanded not Democratic or Republican solutions, but demanded a consistent, prophetic voice that at no point in time ever sold us out as people.
“And it speaks volumes about who the Rev. Jesse Jackson was.”
In the aftermath of Jackson’s death, stories surfaced that Obama and Jackson’s relationship was tense and that the two were never very close.