Controversy swirls over claims of a Jesse Jackson endorsement in Senate race

One candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois says the late Rev. Jesse Jackson endorsed their campaign, leading to a firestorm of controversy.

Just days before the election, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s campaign reported that Jackson had endorsed her candidacy just before he died, but the family has emphasized that the sample ballot that showed the endorsement was preliminary and that they didn’t intend for it to be released.

Rep. Robin Kelly and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi have both pushed back on the controversy, though it isn’t the only signal of support that’s sending shockwaves through the campaign as the election nears.

“It was handed to me, and I was very grateful. While I was there, I got the sheet, and somebody said to me ‘this was one of the last things we all talked about, who did he want to support in these various races,’” Stratton said on Sunday.

Jackson’s son Yusef issued a statement Monday night, saying that a “draft sample ballot” had been released without authorization by a staffer, and that the “unforeseen controversy” has upset the family.

“We did not withdraw or retract our endorsement of any one candidate. Instead, we made it clear that the document shared this weekend was not final, and out of respect for my late father and in our family’s time of bereavement, we would not be confirming nor issuing political endorsements in this cycle,” he said. “I am disheartened that the top of today’s political chatter has been focused on this instead of the issues that matter to everyday voters.”

Kelly said Jackson’s widow Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson called her to apologize after the release of the draft ballot. She also criticized Stratton’s campaign for releasing the endorsement without careful vetting.

“If it was me and someone handed me that, my staff can tell you I’m very cautious and I would have vetted it and spoke to either a family member or someone that represents them, I guess I wouldn’t have rushed into the announcement,” she said. “But also, and she gave me permission to say this, Mrs. Jackson did call me and apologize. And I told her she definitely didn’t have to apologize.”

Krishnamoorthi was also asked about the controversy.

“Jonathan Jackson is one of the most truthful people I know, one of the most honest people I know. And when he speaks to the press and says ‘his father didn’t make any endorsement,’ I think we had to take that seriously,” he said.

A late endorsement controversy is causing a shakeup in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and it’s not the only endorsement being questioned. Mary Ann Ahern explains.

In addition to the Jackson controversy, both Stratton and Kelly are facing criticism for recycling old endorsements from former President Barack Obama, with his former campaign advisor David Axelrod emphasizing that Obama has not backed a candidate.

“It is a measure of Barack Obama’s standing in his home state of Illinois that a late ad on behalf of Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton implies his endorsement in the red-hot, three-way race for the U.S. Senate. But he’s not endorsed ANY of the candidates,” he said in a social media post.

A pro-Stratton ad from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Illinois Future PAC” implies an endorsement from Obama.

“Juliana Stratton has spent her career serving our community, and protecting public safety,” Obama’s voice says in the ad.

The comment was lifted from a 2016 advertisement Obama recorded in support of Stratton’s candidacy for the Illinois State House. Pritzker also was quoted in the ad, which drew immediate controversy.

In a TV ad from Kelly’s campaign, a photo is shown of the two together, with a clip of Obama calling her an “outstanding member of the House.”

“See? He said it,” Kelly says in the ad.

Krishnamoorthi criticized both candidates for the ads, saying they implied an endorsement that has not been made.

“I think they need to answer some serious questions about this. They said that Obama endorsed them. Of course, the Obama folks said the president had not endorsed anybody,” he said.

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