Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson (January 17, 1936 – June 26, 2024) was an American politician who served in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

from 1994 to 2002 and on the

New Orleans City Council The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1954 through a home rule charter, it replaced the city’s previous commission form of government created under the 1912 C ...

from 1990 to 1994, 2002 to 2006, and 2007 to 2013. She had been

Honorary consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

in New Orleans from December 2014 to her death. She was the mother of actress

Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades incl ...

Background

Clarkson was born as Jacquelyn Brechtel in New Orleans on January 17, 1936. Her maternal grandmother, Sophie Bass, was a Jewish immigrant from

. She was the daughter of Sophie (née Berengher) and Johnny Brechtel, a football coach. She was married to Arthur Clarkson and they have five daughters, including

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated actress

. Before entering politics she was in real estate and president of the Louisiana Realtor Association. Clarkson represented District C on the New Orleans City Council from 1990 to 1994 and from 2002 to 2006, as well as District 102 at the

. The boundaries of District 102 are roughly the same as the

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

neighborhood (also known as the Fifteenth Ward) in New Orleans. Those of District C include Algiers, as well as the Vieux Carré or

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

neighborhood. Clarkson died on June 26, 2024, at the age of 88.

After Hurricane Katrina

Clarkson ran for Councilmember at Large in 2006, but she lost in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, often called the runoff in Louisiana, against

Arnie Fielkow Arnold "Arnie" D. Fielkow is an American sports administrator, attorney, and politician who is the CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. Until June 2017, he was the president and CEO of the National Basketball Ret ...

, another Democrat and former Executive Vice President of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. Mayor

Ray Nagin Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. N ...

won re-election only after facing a much tougher challenge than expected before the hurricane, and half of the council members who ran again were defeated. The resignation of Councilmember at Large

Oliver Thomas Oliver M. Thomas Jr. is an American politician, actor, writer, and poet who has served on the New Orleans City Council since 2022. He previously served on the city council from 1994 to 2007, when he resigned his council seat after pleading guilty ...

in 2007 over bribery charges enabled Clarkson to return on New Orleans City Council. She was elected to her first term as Councilmember-at-Large in a special election in November 2007, defeating Cynthia Willard-Lewis. Clarkson in 2008 and 2009 became particularly outspoken in defending likeminded councilwoman

Stacy Head Stacy Aline Singleton Head (born June 30, 1969) is an American lawyer and former president of the New Orleans City Council. Early life and career Stacy Head was born in 1969 as the daughter of the former Katherine Hamberlin and Ernest Lynn Single ...

in a feud with city sanitation director Veronica White. Clarkson called for White's dismissal, but Nagin defended White. Clarkson was re-elected as Councilmember at Large in February 2010 (again narrowly defeating Cynthia Willard-Lewis), and was named president of the council in May 2011.

Election history

Although a lifelong Democrat, Clarkson had received support from Republican organizations including the Parish Executive Committee of the

Orleans Parish Orleans Parish (; ) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coextensive with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city. History On April 10, 180 ...

Republican Party. In 2008 she broke party ranks and supported Republican challenger Anh "Joseph" Cao in his longshot but successful bid to unseat Democratic incumbent William J. Jefferson from

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+17 ...

seat. Likeminded fellow Democratic Councilwoman

found herself soon facing a recall petition. Clarkson, however, was not subjected to a recall effort; as councilwoman-at-large she represented a broader constituency, and she was more ingrained into the New Orleans political scene.Se
Black Residents Defend Stacy Head Amid Recall: Local Group Claims City Council Member Is Racist
, March 9, 2009 (accessed March 18, 2009); and James Gill
"Of all the accusations against Stacy Head, only one sticks -- she's white"
in ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

'' (New Orleans), March 18, 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B5. In May 2009, as the New Orleans e-mail controversies intensified, Clarkson began publishing thousands of her e-mail messages online: ::Anything we don't want the public to see, we shouldn't put in an e-mail. ..Just let us do it responsibly so private information about our constituents doesn't get out there.

Footnotes

External links

Clarkson campaign website
JackieClarkson.org

fro
Oral Histories of the American South

City of New Orleans

Louisiana Secretary of State

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Jackie 1936 births 2024 deaths American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American real estate brokers Jewish state legislators in Louisiana Jewish American women in politics Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives New Orleans City Council members Women city councillors in Louisiana Women state legislators in Louisiana 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American Jews 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature 21st-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature