Disgraced Illinois Ex-Congressman Eyes Comeback Bid

Jesse Jackson Jr. will reportedly announce a run to reclaim his old congressional seat in Illinois after vacating it more than a decade ago following his conviction on fraud charges.

“We must fight them at every level to restore decency, fairness, and equity back into the federal government,” reads a line from the Jesse Jackson Jr. for Congress webpage. 

Jackson, 60, the son of prominent political activist and minister Jesse Jackson, was sentenced to 30 months in prison “for conspiring to defraud his reelection campaigns of about $750,000 in funds that were used to pay for personal items and expenses, including high-end appliances and electronics, and then filing misleading reports to conceal seven years of the illegal activities,” according to the Justice Department in August 2013.

Jackson’s wife at the time was also sentenced to a year in prison for filing false tax returns. 

Jackson has also struggled with mental health issues in the past, having undergone treatment for bipolar II depression in 2012. 

The Jesse Jackson Jr. for Congress website contends that the former House member was known as one of the most effective members in Congress and that he brought in almost $1 billion in grants and appropriations to his district. Jackson’s bid would put him in the running against several seasoned political candidates, including two state senators (one of them, Robert Peters, has been endorsed by both David Hogg’s PAC and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.), a Cook County commissioner, and a Water Reclamation Board Commissioner, among others. 

“Disgraced Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr., who spent campaign funds on Rolex watches and Michael Jackson memorabilia, is set to face a David Hogg-endorsed radical liberal in a messy Democrat primary,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon, adding:

If that sounds like a joke, it’s because the modern Democrat Party has become one, and it’s exactly why House Republicans will not only retain, but expand, our majority.

Jackson’s potential political comeback bid comes on the heels of prominent Illinois politicians announcing they will not seek reelection to their current offices. His onetime House seat—Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District—is being vacated by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who has announced she will seek the seat of retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. 

Jackson’s brother, Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., currently represents Illinois 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

Illinois has had its share of politicians embroiled in scandal. Several governors have faced criminal convictions, including most recently, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who served nearly eight years in federal prison on public corruption charges. His sentence was commuted in 2020 by President Donald Trump, who early this year issued him a full presidential pardon.

Until his resignation in November 2012, Jackson had represented Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District, which covers parts of Chicago, since 1995. President Joe Biden declined to pardon the former Illinois congressman after granting a reprieve to his own son, Hunter Biden, as well as his siblings and their spouses.

Jackson reacted to Biden’s decision, writing, “Of course, I am disappointed. Democrats had an opportunity to end felonization for thousands, if not millions, of American citizens who have completed the time they were sentenced to serve. The fight for the American felon, of which I am one, must continue,” Jackson said in his statement.

Jackson holds a law degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned a seminary degree like his father from Chicago Theological Seminary, although he deferred being ordained. Regarding that decision, Jackson told Chicago magazine for its May 2005 issue, “I did not want to put myself out there as a reverend, knowing that I had my own personal shortcomings to deal with.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated since publication to include comments from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

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