Jackson ran for the 19th Senate District in 2008, but narrowly lost to RepublicanTony Strickland.[1] After Strickland chose not to pursue reelection to the State Senate in 2012 in order to mount an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives, Jackson was elected to succeed him. In 2016, she was reelected to a second term. Before her election to the State Senate, Jackson served in the California State Assembly from 1998 to 2004, representing the 35th Assembly District.
Jackson served as Chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus from 2015 to 2016. She is also a member of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. Jackson is a former prosecutor, the co-founder of two nonprofit organizations, and also served as an adjunct professor at Antioch University.
Jackson served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management. She also served as a member of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee and the Senate Public Safety Committee. She also served as chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus.
In 2013, Jackson introduced a bill allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote.[9] Senate Bill 113 was passed and signed into law in 2014, and took effect in 2017.[10] Now 16- and 17-year-olds in California can pre-register to vote online.
In 2015 the California Fair Pay Act, her equal pay bill, was signed into law. It is one of the toughest pay equity laws in the nation.[11] The law ensures that employees are not paid more for substantially similar work because of their gender.
In 2016 Huffington Post named Jackson one of 11 women around the country "blazing new trails" in American politics.[12]
In 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law her SB 63, the New Parent Leave Act, to provide 12 weeks of job-protected maternity and paternity leave for California employees who work for companies with 20 or more employees.
In 2018, Governor Brown signed into law her SB 826, which required gender diversity on California's corporate boards.[13]
In 2020, Jackson's SB 1383 to expand job protection for family leave to millions of Californians was signed into law by Governor Newsom.[14]
Jackson is married to retired Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge George Eskin. She has a daughter, Jennie, two stepchildren and six grandchildren.[3][2]
