Jack C. Jackson Jr. (Navajo) is an American attorney and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he served in the

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

, representing the state's 2nd district in northern Arizona from 2011 until July 2013, when he left for an appointment with the U.S. Department of State. He is a former member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

, having served from January 2003 to January 2005. His father, Jack C. Jackson Sr., served in the Arizona House until 2004, and they were the first father and son to serve together in the state legislature. In 2004, Jackson Jr. declined to seek a second House term.

Personal life and education

Jack C. Jackson Jr. was born on the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

, into his mother's ''Tó’áhaní'' (Near The Water)

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

and born for his father's ''Kinyaa’áanii'' (Towering House) clan. His maternal grandfather is from the Tábaahá (Water’s Edge) clan, and his paternal grandfather is from the Áshiihí (Salt) clan. His father, Jack Jackson Sr., had a long political career, serving in the State Legislature from 1985 to 2004. Jackson Jr. graduated from college and went on to earn his J.D. degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

College of Law in New York in 1989. That year, he moved to Washington, D.C., and began his career in Native American political advocacy.

Political career

Jackson moved to the capital, where he represented tribal governments and organizations, primarily before the federal government. Beginning as a Legislative Associate, he advanced to Deputy Director for the Navajo Nation Washington Office. Jackson also served as a Legislative Analyst at the

National Indian Education Association The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is the only national nonprofit exclusive to education issues for Native Americans in the United States, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people of the United States. History In Ma ...

and as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the

National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Alaska Native Indigenous rights, rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. ...

. In total, he worked in Washington for 12 years. In April 2000, Secretary of

Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Preside ...

appointed him to President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. In 2002, Jackson Jr. successfully ran for the Arizona State House of Representatives. He served one term from January 2003 to January 2005 in the 46th Arizona State Legislature. During this time, he worked alongside his father, Jack C. Jackson Sr., who served in the Arizona State Legislature from 1985 to 2004. They became the first father and son to serve simultaneously in the Arizona State Legislature. In 2005, Arizona Governor

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

appointed Jackson as the Executive Director of the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs, an office that assists Arizona's 22 Indian Nations and Tribes. That year, Jackson also began his campaign for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Arizona's 1st congressional district Arizona's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona, covering northeastern Maricopa County. Before 2023, geographically, it was the eleventh-largest congressional district in the country and inc ...

, a seat held by the Republican

Rick Renzi Richard George Renzi (born June 11, 1958) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing from 2003 until 2009. In 2013, Renzi was convicted on federal criminal charges filed in 2 ...

. In March 2006, he withdrew from the House campaign ahead of the September Democratic primary, citing his campaign's inability to raise sufficient funds to compete against the incumbent. Renzi retained his seat in the November election. In 2010, Jackson Jr. ran for the

in the Legislative District 2 and won the August Democratic primary, defeating three other candidates. He was unopposed in the general election since no Republican filed for the seat. As a result, in November 2010, Jackson reclaimed his father's former Senate seat in the 50th Arizona Legislature. Due to Arizona's 2002 redistricting, in 2010, Arizona Legislative District 2 included part of the city of Flagstaff, the

, and the

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

Havasupai The Havasupai people (Havasupai: ''Havsuw' Baaja'') are a Native American people and tribe who have lived in the Grand Canyon for at least the past 800 years. Their name means "people of the blue-green water", referring to Havasu Creek, a t ...

Hualapai The Hualapai ( , ) are a federally recognized Native American tribe in Arizona with about 2300 enrolled citizens. Approximately 1353 enrolled citizens reside on the Hualapai Reservation, which spans over three counties in Northern Arizona ( Coc ...

and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes. In the 2012 election, Jackson ran unopposed. Subsequently, he was re-elected to represent the newly drawn Arizona Legislative District 7, which, in 2011, incorporated all of the state's northern tribes: Hualapai, Havasupai, Kaibab Paiute, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni Pueblo, as well as the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache reservations. Jackson served on the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise Board from October 2007 to August 2014. During his tenure on the board, Navajo Gaming established the Navajo Nations first two casinos. The Obama Administration appointed Jackson to serve again on the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, holding this position from February 2010 to September 2013. In support of same-sex marriage, he introduced legislation in 2013 to change the marriage provision in Arizona's state Constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. However, the legislation failed due to a conservative state legislature. During the

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Administration, he was appointed as a Tribal Liaison in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

. In 2024, he was appointed to the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

Personal

Jackson is gay. On October 11, 2008, in Del Mar, California, before the passage of Proposition 8, Jackson was married to db Bailey in a sunset ceremony.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Jack Jr. 21st-century Native American politicians Arizona state senators American gay politicians LGBTQ Native Americans LGBTQ state legislators in Arizona Living people Members of the Arizona House of Representatives Native American state legislators in Arizona Navajo lawyers People from Window Rock, Arizona Syracuse University College of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Navajo leaders Navajo born for the Towering House Clan LGBTQ people from Arizona Native American people from Arizona 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature