It's no surprise you've become so widely read. Your writing is fantastic and refreshingly direct. I really appreciate the openness in the way you share your thoughts.
Having avidly followed your posts, I am delighted to support your campaign for AG. The Republican cynical gerrymandering is an insult to democracy, but if you succeed the state will benefit.
You do realize Democrats gerrymander in states like Illinois, Maryland and New York where the GOP gets maybe 15% of the seats on 40% of the vote. Politicians of both parties are as bad as each other in this.
Admittedly both parties gerrymander, but the Republican multifaceted campaign to disenfranchise voters through many restrictive measures is without precedent or proportion. As to the examples you cite, the NY gerrymandering was overturned, the one district in MD was under a Republican governor, and the Illinois districts were also redrawn. Facts matter.
Yes facts matter and when in states like New York, Illinois, California and Massachusetts you have maybe 10-15% of seats for the GOP yet close to 40% of the vote and typically a more efficiently distributed vote (not clustered in cities) then that points to gerrymandering. Massachusetts has not one GOP seat but yet a significant GOP vote. As you say facts matter.
Voter ID and bans on ballot harvesting are perfectly reasonable and in keeping with international practices. I am sure you will bring Georgia up for their recent changes. They have more early voting than Connecticut! Hardly repressive and turnout has gone up since the changes. As you say facts matter!
According to Pew only 27% of voters in Massachusetts are Republicans or lean republican. ALL nine Congressional reps are democrats, winning their districts by 6-35 points. You gotta stop watching Fox.
40% sounds high for CA, the most populous areas tend to vote pretty blue. It’s really just the middle that’s MAGA conservative and OC. If anything counties here are gerrymandered to increase the number of republican seats. We’ve know for a longtime that voter ID is a nonsense and rooted in white supremacy.
We get rid of gerrymandering because we can win fair and square. If Maryland had reasonable borders, we'd likely lose one congressman, but gain the moral high ground to condemn the practice in NC Texas and everywhere else.
We shouldn't feed the Whataboutism effectively used by anti-democratic powermongers.
It's repugnant when either side does it and being repugnant because it's "fair" is a losing game.
I live in District 3. Once judged the most tortured district in the country. Democrats get better when we don't use trickery and condemn foul play in all its forms. We do not circle the wagons and we are the better for it. You can't get better if you cover up your flaws. You need to attack your weaknesses and find out why your opponent is winning.
Howard Dean said Democrats can win everywhere, but we won't need to try if we push the borders around. That makes us complacent, and indifferent. That's a losing formula as evidenced by the Republican losing record in the Senate where gerrymandering politics is very difficult to defend at the state level.
I don't disagree with anything you said except this "we'd gain the moral high ground."
The moral high ground doesn't mean a damn when the other side is willing to do anything to gain power.
If Republicans felt gerrymandering was hurting their chances of winning nationally, we could have a national law forbidding it. (Although at this moment, this current Court would probably rule it unconstitutional.)
But as long as Republicans want to treat the rest of us like chumps when we "take the moral high ground" I say let's do it the Chicago way.
("They put one of yours in the hospital? You put one of THEIRS in the morgue.")
Yes, we shouldn't be complacent and God yes, we should be trying to win everywhere based on policy not party.
But I learned a long time ago that the way you teach people not to fuck with you is NOT by appealing to their better natures but by making it painful when they do.
You have far more confidence in Democrats capacity for nefarious undemocratic mechanisms than I do.
Moral high ground is where we want to be, and our party can lead us back to some semblence of it.
If no one wants moral high ground, no one will arrive upon it.
Your race to the bottom is a mistake, long term. If you're going to undermine democracy, I have total faith in Republicans to beat us senseless at it.
Our debate is proof. For every person like yourself saying "Eff the rules and fair play!" there's a guy like me criticizing and dissuading and weakening the effort.
I do not know how strong the opposition to "dirty tricks" is on the Republican side. I do not hear much complaint. They are quite vocal in their righteousness and win at all costs./ All or nothing is their style.
Democrats are like herding cats. We fight among ourselves because we want to be right and sometimes that needs some hearty debate and introspection. Unaniminity, loyalty, crushing dissent? That is unstoppable when it comes to doing the wrong thing. Think mafia, or dictatorships.
They are top-heavy respect for authoritah.
We're a messy consensus, checking in with the otherwise quiet, smaller, disempowered voices who still get a vote.
We need to lead with our strength. There is no victory in being Republican-lite.
Do you remember Michael Dukakis saying in response to Bush attack ads that he wouldn't stoop that low?
Don't you think it might have worked out better if he had?
Or if Mondale had asked Reagan in a debate why he had had secret dealings with the Iranians?
Do you remember Operation Swiftboating? Run against a combat vet to favor the guy who drank his way through Vietnam in the National Guard?
When are you going to get tired of losing to liars and grifters who aren't even competent at governing?
One million Americans died from Covid because Republicans had no problems electing a TV game show host. And now, they're shocked!! (Shocked I tell you!!) to discover that they can't stop him from looting their party.
You're right -- electing Democrats is like herding cats. You're right -- we should be raising the bar.
But this is not lawn tennis -- this is people's lives. And I am not going to sacrifice this country to impotent idealism.
New York was thrown out by the courts but Democrats did try to gerrymander and are trying again in between census periods - that shows how desperate they are.
Dan Bishop is the worst kind of political hack. He should never be given another position of trust and responsibility. Having failed to make any kind of splash in Washington (having arrived on the back of the 'bathroom bill'), he has calculated his best bet for wielding power is to return to state politics. Attorney General is a high profile position in NC, and Jeff Jackson will handle it masterfully. I expect to see him Governor one day.
Hooray! I wish it was governor because I’m not a big fan of Stein over his involvement in the HCA takeover of Mission Hospital in western NC. Our level of healthcare in this area has been heavily damaged by HCA.
On another note, you’re young Jeff! You’ll be back in DC one of these days. But I’m thrilled to have you in office in NC too.
My family and I are with you always @jeff and I pray one day I get to vote for you in a presidential race. We need more people with your ethics and integrity
I'm a Florida resident who has voted 95% republican all my life, but somewhere along the line I subscribed to your newsletter. You really strike me as a straight shooter, a no nonsense guy. The current republican party went off the rails with Trump and the whole MAGA thing, and my daughter and family live in NC, so I sent you a small donation. Good luck.
Losing you in DC is a huge loss but I'm glad you aren't letting those hacks win. You'll always have my support. Looking forward to seeing you and Josh Stein sworn in in 2025!
Jeff, we need Dems to be running in every race for Congress so if not you, then who? Your decision, which I get is one based on your desire to be a career elected official, says to every other person who thinks about running in a gerrymandered district that it’s useless, don’t bother. Can you address this in another post, please?
Honesty is the best policy. If something has a zero percent chance of happening - like flipping an R+15 district - my stance is we should be candid with people about that.
No I don’t and he seems a reasonable person. But straight after his district is changed he leaps straight into another public position. He could have gone to the private sector.
We need more democrats in all positions to overcome the fascist nutjob Republicans who know nothing about women's healthcare, human rights, and expecting women to push out rapist babies or any children to resupply the employment stockyard as stated by our new house speaker.
There will be court challenges to these new districts, arguing that they violate the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act. If you’d rather not stick around and wait for the outcome of these challenges when there is the opportunity to advance your career, fine. But your race is not “unwinnable” until the courts have had their say. You owe it to your constituents to be candid about that. Some Democrat will run for this office, and it feels like you have just thrown that person (and your voters) under the bus because it was in your political interest in his moment to declare this race “unwinnable.”
I really thought you were a different kind of politician, but it took you less than two years in DC to develop a sense of entitlement. Do you understand how the statement you just released breeds cynicism and actually harms our democracy? The way you have framed your announcement for the AG’s office makes it hard for me to be enthusiastic about your campaign, so I’ll be focused on other races here in North Carolina.
I prefer to wear the shirt I have that says "Sure, I'm a Marxist!" below an image of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Karl Marx all sitting in a row. Pair that with my Black Lives Matter mask, and the MAGAs lose their minds. :D
Jeff - while I agree that America desperately needs more people in congress like you, I think what we really need is people in state government stopping gerrymandering. Once that is done, representation in congress becomes genuine and proportional (one person - one vote). At that point, legislation that outlaws gerrymandering becomes possible at the Federal level. Ending the state experiments as laboratories of autocracy has to be the primary goal.
If you want to know more about the laboratories of autocracy idea and why it matters:
Long term fan and Floridian. Would love to support you but ACT Blue will give out my email and contact to every Dem running for office in the US. How can I contribute to your campaign without being abused with unwanted emails and texts???
You may just have to reply STOP to the ones you don't want. I figure it's worth doing that in order to be an incredibly THRILLED supporter of Jeff!!!!!
That is some fantastic lemonade! Unfortunately I have moved out of state, but I have three young adult kids who will vote for you and tell all their friends!
"To my surprise, this has become one of the most widely read political newsletters in the country."
I don't think anyone has any idea how much many of us crave authenticity and honesty rather than showmanship in our politics.
My feelings exactly. Other 'politicians' could (but won't) learn a lot from Jeff and do a better job for all of us if they did.
Well said!
Share this content and maybe we can spread this sensible, transparent approach to governance, through both parties!
It's no surprise you've become so widely read. Your writing is fantastic and refreshingly direct. I really appreciate the openness in the way you share your thoughts.
That’s very kind, thank you.
Hells to the YES! Seeing you elected as AG, great. Seeing you defeat the *deeply odious* Dan Bishop? Priceless!
Having avidly followed your posts, I am delighted to support your campaign for AG. The Republican cynical gerrymandering is an insult to democracy, but if you succeed the state will benefit.
Michael Sartisky, PhD
Asheville/Fairview
Howdy neighbour! The state will only benefit if the NCGOP gets voted tf out AND their gerrymandered-to-hell map gets thrown out by the courts.
You do realize Democrats gerrymander in states like Illinois, Maryland and New York where the GOP gets maybe 15% of the seats on 40% of the vote. Politicians of both parties are as bad as each other in this.
Admittedly both parties gerrymander, but the Republican multifaceted campaign to disenfranchise voters through many restrictive measures is without precedent or proportion. As to the examples you cite, the NY gerrymandering was overturned, the one district in MD was under a Republican governor, and the Illinois districts were also redrawn. Facts matter.
Yes facts matter and when in states like New York, Illinois, California and Massachusetts you have maybe 10-15% of seats for the GOP yet close to 40% of the vote and typically a more efficiently distributed vote (not clustered in cities) then that points to gerrymandering. Massachusetts has not one GOP seat but yet a significant GOP vote. As you say facts matter.
Voter ID and bans on ballot harvesting are perfectly reasonable and in keeping with international practices. I am sure you will bring Georgia up for their recent changes. They have more early voting than Connecticut! Hardly repressive and turnout has gone up since the changes. As you say facts matter!
According to Pew only 27% of voters in Massachusetts are Republicans or lean republican. ALL nine Congressional reps are democrats, winning their districts by 6-35 points. You gotta stop watching Fox.
40% sounds high for CA, the most populous areas tend to vote pretty blue. It’s really just the middle that’s MAGA conservative and OC. If anything counties here are gerrymandered to increase the number of republican seats. We’ve know for a longtime that voter ID is a nonsense and rooted in white supremacy.
Why should Maryland get rid of our gerrymandering when there are so many more Republican states ignoring court orders?
Sorry that's for chumps.
Republicans seem to feel that everyone else should play by the old rules while they run roughshod and try and overturn the Constitution.
National law, no gerrymandering or voter suppression and everyone plays by the same rules.
Until then we'll just put outvote you statewide.
We get rid of gerrymandering because we can win fair and square. If Maryland had reasonable borders, we'd likely lose one congressman, but gain the moral high ground to condemn the practice in NC Texas and everywhere else.
We shouldn't feed the Whataboutism effectively used by anti-democratic powermongers.
It's repugnant when either side does it and being repugnant because it's "fair" is a losing game.
I live in District 3. Once judged the most tortured district in the country. Democrats get better when we don't use trickery and condemn foul play in all its forms. We do not circle the wagons and we are the better for it. You can't get better if you cover up your flaws. You need to attack your weaknesses and find out why your opponent is winning.
Howard Dean said Democrats can win everywhere, but we won't need to try if we push the borders around. That makes us complacent, and indifferent. That's a losing formula as evidenced by the Republican losing record in the Senate where gerrymandering politics is very difficult to defend at the state level.
Sorry, but no.
I don't disagree with anything you said except this "we'd gain the moral high ground."
The moral high ground doesn't mean a damn when the other side is willing to do anything to gain power.
If Republicans felt gerrymandering was hurting their chances of winning nationally, we could have a national law forbidding it. (Although at this moment, this current Court would probably rule it unconstitutional.)
But as long as Republicans want to treat the rest of us like chumps when we "take the moral high ground" I say let's do it the Chicago way.
("They put one of yours in the hospital? You put one of THEIRS in the morgue.")
Yes, we shouldn't be complacent and God yes, we should be trying to win everywhere based on policy not party.
But I learned a long time ago that the way you teach people not to fuck with you is NOT by appealing to their better natures but by making it painful when they do.
You have far more confidence in Democrats capacity for nefarious undemocratic mechanisms than I do.
Moral high ground is where we want to be, and our party can lead us back to some semblence of it.
If no one wants moral high ground, no one will arrive upon it.
Your race to the bottom is a mistake, long term. If you're going to undermine democracy, I have total faith in Republicans to beat us senseless at it.
Our debate is proof. For every person like yourself saying "Eff the rules and fair play!" there's a guy like me criticizing and dissuading and weakening the effort.
I do not know how strong the opposition to "dirty tricks" is on the Republican side. I do not hear much complaint. They are quite vocal in their righteousness and win at all costs./ All or nothing is their style.
Democrats are like herding cats. We fight among ourselves because we want to be right and sometimes that needs some hearty debate and introspection. Unaniminity, loyalty, crushing dissent? That is unstoppable when it comes to doing the wrong thing. Think mafia, or dictatorships.
They are top-heavy respect for authoritah.
We're a messy consensus, checking in with the otherwise quiet, smaller, disempowered voices who still get a vote.
We need to lead with our strength. There is no victory in being Republican-lite.
Do you remember Michael Dukakis saying in response to Bush attack ads that he wouldn't stoop that low?
Don't you think it might have worked out better if he had?
Or if Mondale had asked Reagan in a debate why he had had secret dealings with the Iranians?
Do you remember Operation Swiftboating? Run against a combat vet to favor the guy who drank his way through Vietnam in the National Guard?
When are you going to get tired of losing to liars and grifters who aren't even competent at governing?
One million Americans died from Covid because Republicans had no problems electing a TV game show host. And now, they're shocked!! (Shocked I tell you!!) to discover that they can't stop him from looting their party.
You're right -- electing Democrats is like herding cats. You're right -- we should be raising the bar.
But this is not lawn tennis -- this is people's lives. And I am not going to sacrifice this country to impotent idealism.
New York was thrown out by the courts but Democrats did try to gerrymander and are trying again in between census periods - that shows how desperate they are.
Dan Bishop is the worst kind of political hack. He should never be given another position of trust and responsibility. Having failed to make any kind of splash in Washington (having arrived on the back of the 'bathroom bill'), he has calculated his best bet for wielding power is to return to state politics. Attorney General is a high profile position in NC, and Jeff Jackson will handle it masterfully. I expect to see him Governor one day.
He’s definitely the golden boy of the Democratic Party and I’d love to see him become governor one day.
Hooray! I wish it was governor because I’m not a big fan of Stein over his involvement in the HCA takeover of Mission Hospital in western NC. Our level of healthcare in this area has been heavily damaged by HCA.
On another note, you’re young Jeff! You’ll be back in DC one of these days. But I’m thrilled to have you in office in NC too.
I’ll contribute to your campaign!
My family and I are with you always @jeff and I pray one day I get to vote for you in a presidential race. We need more people with your ethics and integrity
I'm a Florida resident who has voted 95% republican all my life, but somewhere along the line I subscribed to your newsletter. You really strike me as a straight shooter, a no nonsense guy. The current republican party went off the rails with Trump and the whole MAGA thing, and my daughter and family live in NC, so I sent you a small donation. Good luck.
Losing you in DC is a huge loss but I'm glad you aren't letting those hacks win. You'll always have my support. Looking forward to seeing you and Josh Stein sworn in in 2025!
Way to make lemonade! North Carolina is extremely fortunate to have you as a public servant in any capacity.
Jeff, we need Dems to be running in every race for Congress so if not you, then who? Your decision, which I get is one based on your desire to be a career elected official, says to every other person who thinks about running in a gerrymandered district that it’s useless, don’t bother. Can you address this in another post, please?
Honesty is the best policy. If something has a zero percent chance of happening - like flipping an R+15 district - my stance is we should be candid with people about that.
Sure, Jeff, for your personal calculation of course. My point is about your seat-- is it worth anyone fighting for? Should another Dem run?
Jeff just wants to stay employed and drawing a public pay check
Guy, What is your basis for saying that? Do you know Jeff personally? Blanket cynicism is a manifestation of laziness.
No I don’t and he seems a reasonable person. But straight after his district is changed he leaps straight into another public position. He could have gone to the private sector.
We need him in the public sector.
And done what?
Been one of the hundreds of former government officials lobbying? Taking money from billionaires to limit other people's rights?
Government service IS service and far more beneficial to the US economy than lobbying.
Let me ask you - should Clarence Thomas accept gifts from billionaires?
Reading his letter since his orientation does lead one to believe his first inclination is to support the Democratic Party and not his constituents.
Republicans split HIS constituents up into multiple districts just so they couldn't have the representation THEY wanted.
We need more democrats in all positions to overcome the fascist nutjob Republicans who know nothing about women's healthcare, human rights, and expecting women to push out rapist babies or any children to resupply the employment stockyard as stated by our new house speaker.
Ron, Why have you come to this view? Thanks.
While it's great you're running for AG, how many of those R+15 are under 30 or are women?
Republicans have gone a little crazy even for Republicans.
Can you recruit a serious candidate to replace you?
There will be court challenges to these new districts, arguing that they violate the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act. If you’d rather not stick around and wait for the outcome of these challenges when there is the opportunity to advance your career, fine. But your race is not “unwinnable” until the courts have had their say. You owe it to your constituents to be candid about that. Some Democrat will run for this office, and it feels like you have just thrown that person (and your voters) under the bus because it was in your political interest in his moment to declare this race “unwinnable.”
I really thought you were a different kind of politician, but it took you less than two years in DC to develop a sense of entitlement. Do you understand how the statement you just released breeds cynicism and actually harms our democracy? The way you have framed your announcement for the AG’s office makes it hard for me to be enthusiastic about your campaign, so I’ll be focused on other races here in North Carolina.
VOTE ALL BLUE!!
And wear this rainbow flag shirt in front of conservatives: t.co/KLS4Wyl6Eo
I prefer to wear the shirt I have that says "Sure, I'm a Marxist!" below an image of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Karl Marx all sitting in a row. Pair that with my Black Lives Matter mask, and the MAGAs lose their minds. :D
I just wrote the same comment!
Jeff - while I agree that America desperately needs more people in congress like you, I think what we really need is people in state government stopping gerrymandering. Once that is done, representation in congress becomes genuine and proportional (one person - one vote). At that point, legislation that outlaws gerrymandering becomes possible at the Federal level. Ending the state experiments as laboratories of autocracy has to be the primary goal.
If you want to know more about the laboratories of autocracy idea and why it matters:
https://davidpepper.substack.com/p/mike-johnson-and-democracy?r=17y7a&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Long term fan and Floridian. Would love to support you but ACT Blue will give out my email and contact to every Dem running for office in the US. How can I contribute to your campaign without being abused with unwanted emails and texts???
You may just have to reply STOP to the ones you don't want. I figure it's worth doing that in order to be an incredibly THRILLED supporter of Jeff!!!!!
She's right. I support the candidate(s) I can afford to and unsubscribe the rest. Takes several seconds to do if you are a genuine supporter of Jeff.
As would I. I want to support actual progressive Dems like Jeff, rather than corporatist shills like Pelosi.
Very sad to know I lost you as my congressman, but you will have my vote for AG! Thank you for all you have done and for the transparency!
You've absolutely got my vote, from here and on up the chain.
That is some fantastic lemonade! Unfortunately I have moved out of state, but I have three young adult kids who will vote for you and tell all their friends!