He practiced law in the Boston area for 15 years.[8] 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."[9] He remained in Boston until the late 1990s as a practicing attorney and preacher.[7]
While in Boston, he appeared on several radio shows on WHDH and hosted a nationally syndicated talk show, Earl Jackson Across America.[10]
In June 1998, Jackson was consecrated a bishop.[ambiguous] 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.[6] 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".[7] The church rents a room at a Chesapeake hotel, where Jackson preaches every Sunday.[6] Jackson founded Chesapeake's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, now in its 14th year.[6]
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.[12] He has also spoken in black churches on issues facing the country.[4]
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."[13] 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."[13]
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."[7]
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."[7]
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."[6]
Jackson has claimed that Democratic Party elites are "driving an agenda to rid the party and the country of God,"[6] and has claimed that his policies are closer to those of the "average Democrat in Virginia" than the Democratic Party itself.[6]
In May 2011, Jackson announced he was running for the United States Senate seat in Virginia in the 2012 election.[14]George Allen won the June 2012 primary; Jackson received 5% of the vote.[15]
Jackson announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on December 1, 2012, at the Republican Party of Virginia Advance in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[17] On January 10, 2013, Jackson released his "Engage and Reform Agenda"[18] which the campaign called "commonsense reforms [that] reassert the principles of our Constitution and Let Liberty Light the Way for Virginia."[19]
On May 18, 2013, Jackson was nominated as the Republican Party candidate for the position, at the party convention in Richmond.[2] 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.[20] The Richmond Times-Dispatch called his victory a "stunning upset" over the other candidates.[21] Jackson is the first non-white to be nominated to a statewide office by Virginia Republicans since 1988.[22]
2013 Virginia Republican convention Lieutenant governor nomination official results[23]
After his nomination, Jackson received criticism for some of his past statements that have been perceived as derogatory to the LGBTQ community, non-Christians, and Democrats.[24] He has been criticized for alleged Islamophobia in response to his comments about House Floor rule changes to accommodate members who wear headcoverings.[25]
In June 2013, in Manassas, Jackson held a press conference to address his past and to counter what he claimed were distortions of his past words and statements by his opponents. Jackson disputed a number of criticisms of his theology, which he had were "twisted and distorted," and said, "I'm not going to spend the campaign talking about these issues, so let's get it out of the way now."[9] Jackson also revealed previously unreported details about his financial history and past drug use, saying he wanted to "reveal as many of my weaknesses and shortcomings as a curious press and my opposition might want to look into," and by doing so, "maybe save you and your colleagues some further research."[9] In regard to criticism of his past statements that birth defects are "caused by parents' sins," Jackson said, "I do not believe that birth defects are caused by parents' sin unless, of course, there's a direct scientific connection between the parents' behavior and the disabilities of the child," such as a child who might develop birth defects if their mother was addicted to heroin.[9] He claimed that he had not said that yoga leads to Satanism.[9]
Jackson claimed that his comments about gay people have been taken out of context, and that they were directed not towards the general LGBT community but rather its "more politically active, fringe members." Of past comments that homosexuality "poisons culture", he then claimed that "What I really said was that the gay rights movement, so called, the homosexual activists, engage in some behavior that is absolutely horrendous, and that's true, everybody knows that; from going into Catholic churches and desecrating the Sacraments to engaging in all kinds of demonstrative behavior to try to call attention to what they view as their plight." He also called some gay people "rabid [and] radical."[26]
In 2018, on December 5, on his radio show, Jackson said, "The floor of Congress is now going to look like an Islamic republic."[25] He said, "We are a Judeo-Christian country. We are a nation rooted and grounded in Christianity and that's that. And anybody that doesn't like that, go live somewhere else. It's very simple. Just go live somewhere else."[25] His comments drew widespread criticism.[26][25][27]
In April 2019, Jackson said that the United States would turn into a "homocracy" if it elects Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay candidate, for president.[28]
General election campaign
Through the second quarter of 2013 ending on June 30, 2013, Jackson raised $375,324.[29] Most of his contributions were from small donors, indicating a large grassroots base.[29] From July 1 through August 31, 2013, Jackson raised $303,220.[30] Jackson spent $1.3 million throughout the campaign cycle.[31]
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.[13] Jackson, whose wife is a public school teacher in Newport News, has called for a constitutional amendment for equal resources for homeschooled students.[32]
Jackson has backed the Farm Freedom Act, a bill proposed by DelegateBrenda 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.[33][34]
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."[35]
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.[42]
