Gerrymandered out of district, Rep. Jeff Jackson announces run for AG

Andrew McMillan
·1 min read
15

The writing was on the wall as soon as the North Carolina General Assembly finalized new district maps Wednesday afternoon: Democrat Rep. Jeff Jackson’s days in Congress are numbered.

But now the freshman representative for North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District is now running to be the state’s next attorney general.

RELATED: North Carolina approves new Congressional map with big gains for Republicans

Jackson made the announcement Thursday morning, saying he would use the job “to fight political corruption.” His accompanying video features an intense Jackson boxing against an opponent.

While the attorney general job would potentially take him from creating laws to enforcing them, Jackson has plenty of experience in the courtroom. Before being elected to the North Carolina state Senate, he was a prosecutor in Gaston County.

According to our partners at the Charlotte Observer, Jackson earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Jackson was first elected to Congress in 2022 after the courts drew district maps that essentially split North Carolina’s delegation between seven Republicans and seven Democrats. New maps that were finalized this week have shifted Jackson’s seat into a Republican-favored district, ultimately assuring that he wouldn’t be able to win re-election to the U.S. House.

Incumbent Attorney General Josh Stein is running for governor.

So far, only one Republican candidate has declared for the attorney general race. That’s Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District.

Two more Democrats are in the running for AG, Tim Dunn and Charles Ingram. Candidates will be set after the North Carolina primary elections on March 5, 2024.

(WATCH: North Carolina attorney general sues embattled real estate company MV Realty)