Overview

• Jackson announced his campaign in a video timed to his father’s 84th birthday, quoting Jesse Jackson Sr.’s 1984 convention address to frame his return.
• The seat opens as Rep. Robin Kelly pursues a U.S. Senate run, making the Democratic primary the decisive contest in this strongly Democratic district.
• He enters a crowded field that includes state Sens. Robert Peters and Willie Preston, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, Water Reclamation District Commissioner Yumeka Brown, and policy strategist Adal Regis.
• His team says the exploratory committee will convert to a principal campaign committee, with retroactive disclosures to follow, and reports collecting about 8,000 nominating petition signatures.
• Jackson acknowledges past wrongdoing and treatment for bipolar II depression; opponents and Republican groups are already highlighting his 2013 conviction and prison sentence.