Tito Jackson (politician)

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Jackson in 2017 Tito Jackson 2017 interview 09.jpg
Jackson in 2017

In January 2017 Jackson announced he would run for Mayor of Boston in the 2017 mayoral election against the incumbent, Marty Walsh. [37] In launching his candidacy, Jackson positioned himself as the "progressive" candidate in the race, and cited issues such as income inequality and housing as being central to his candidacy. [4]

In the nonpartisan primary election held on September 26, 2017, Jackson received 29 percent of the votes to Walsh's 63 percent. Jackson moved onto the general election on November 7, 2017. Only 14 percent of the city's voting population cast votes compared to 31 percent in the previous preliminary mayoral contest. [38]

Jackson focused much of his efforts on aiming to win the city's Black vote. [39]

Jackson lost the general election race with 34 percent of the votes to Walsh's 65 percent. [40]

Post-City Council activities and career

Following his city council tenure, Jackson has been involved in ventures related to legal marijuana sales. [41] Jackson has served as the chief executive of Verdant Medical, a Massachusetts medical and recreational marijuana company. [42] He has also worked as the chief executive officer of the Apex Noire marijuana company. [43]

Jackson at a 2020 George Floyd protest in Franklin Park Tito Jackson BLM 07.jpg
Jackson at a 2020 George Floyd protest in Franklin Park

Jackson tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2020, early into the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States [44]

In the 2021 Boston mayoral election, Jackson endorsed the unsuccessful primary election campaign of Acting Mayor Kim Janey. [45] After Janey was eliminated in the primary, he endorsed the successful general election campaign of Michelle Wu. [46]

On March 16, 2022, Jackson was one of fourteen names put forth by the Boston City Council as nominees serve on the newly-established Boston Commission on Black Men and Boys. Mayor Wu had the authority to select seven of those nominees to appoint to the commission. [47] The commission has 21 members, seven of which are selected by the mayor after being first recommended from the Boston City Council, while the remainder are selected by the mayor independently from a pool of applicants. On May 19, 2022, Mayor Wu announced that she would appoint Jackson to the commission. [48]

In October 2022, Jackson spoke before the Boston City Council in support of a proposal by the City Council to raise the pay of city councilors by 20%. He claimed in his remarks that after his election to the city council, he nearly lost his house to foreclosure. [49] While the amendment was passed by the council, Mayor Wu vetoed it. Wu supported an 11% increase, which had been the recommendation of Boston’s compensation advisory board, but opposed a 20% increase. [50]

Electoral history

City Council

Tito Jackson
Tito Jackson (7897504902) (a) (adjusted).jpg
Jackson in 2012
Member of the Boston City Council
from District 7
In office
March 2011 December 2017
2009 Boston City Council at-large election
CandidatesPreliminary Election [51] General Election [52]
Votes%Votes%
John R. Connolly (incumbent)35,18218.0851,36218.35
Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent)30,36515.6151,00818.22
Felix G. Arroyo 25,85913.2945,14416.13
Ayanna Pressley 16,8668.6741,87914.96
Tito Jackson12,5356.4430,20310.79
Andrew Kenneally12,6536.5024,2498.66
Tomás González10,1225.2018,3106.54
Doug Bennett10,5295.4116,8426.02
Ego Ezedi9,2604.76
Hiep Quoc Nguyen7,6913.95
Sean H. Ryan6,6653.43
Jean-Claude Sanon5,3862.77
Robert Fortes5,0712.61
Bill Trabucco3,1321.61
Scotland Willis2,6391.36
all others5950.319510.34
2011 Boston City Council district 7 special election [53]
CandidateVotes %
Tito Jackson2,82981.98
Cornell Mills55716.14
Althea Garrison (write-in)461.33
all others190.55
Total votes3,451 100
2011 Boston City Council district 7 election
CandidatesPreliminary Election [54] General Election [55]
Votes%Votes%
Tito Jackson (incumbent)1,87676.074,81884.35
Sheneal Parker27311.0779913.99
Althea Garrison 2168.76470.82
Roy Owens853.45
all others160.65480.84
Total2,4661005,712100

write-in votes

2013 Boston City Council district 7 election [56]
CandidateVotes %
Tito Jackson (incumbent)7,67674.61
Roy Owens1,68016.33
Jamarhl C. Crawford (write-in)6536.35
all others2792.71
Total votes10,288 100
2015 Boston City Council district 7 election
CandidatesPreliminary Election [57] General Election [58]
Votes%Votes%
Tito Jackson (incumbent)1,40966.402,98366.64
Charles L. Clemons Jr.38117.951,44432.26
Haywood Fennell Sr.1044.90160.36
Althea Garrison 984.6200.00
Roy Owens743.49
Kevin A. Dwire341.60
all others221.04330.74
Total2,1221004,476100

write-in votes

Mayor

2017 Boston mayoral election
CandidatesPreliminary election [59] General election [40]
Votes%Votes%
Marty Walsh 34,88262.52%70,19765.37%
Tito Jackson16,21629.07%36,47233.97%
Robert Cappucci3,7366.70%
Joseph Wiley5290.95%
all others4280.777080.66
Total55,791100107,377100

Notes

  1. While Grove Hall is considered a neighborhood by the City of Boston, [8] it is not considered as one of the city's "main" neighborhoods. Dorchester and Roxbury are among the city's main neighborhoods (per the accounts of the city government [9] [10] and unofficial sources [11] ). Hence, why Jackson's residence in the Grove Hall neighborhood would also be considered to also be within either of the aforementioned "main" neighborhoods.
    Different government agencies and entities disagree as to whether Jackson's home is located in Roxbury or in Dorchester. As of 2017, the city's zoning and planning maps labeled the home as being in Roxbury, while its assessing department listed it as being in Dorchester. The United States Postal Service serves the Grove Hall neighborhood through its Dorchester post office, but had prior to 1967 served it through its Roxbury post office. [12]
    The question of which neighborhood (Roxbury or Dorchester) Jackson lived in garnered minor attention during his 2017 mayoral campaign, as Roxbury is considered the city's most well-known African American community, while Dorchester is a more white neighborhood from which the incumbent mayor that Jackson was challenging had hailed. At the time, local leaders commented on how the boundary lines between the neighborhoods are not strictly-defined. [12]

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References

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Further reading