Lydia P. Jackson

Lydia Patrice Jackson (born March 5, 1960) is a Democratic former member of the Louisiana State Senate from Shreveport, Louisiana. An African American, Jackson represented District 39 in Caddo Parish in the far northwestern corner of her state from 2004 to 2012.

Lydia Patrice Jackson
Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 39th district
In office
2004–2012
Preceded byGregory Tarver
Succeeded byGregory Tarver
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 2nd district
In office
2000–2004
Preceded byDanny Mitchell
Succeeded byRoy A. Burrell
Personal details
Born (1960-03-05) March 5, 1960
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Shreveport, Caddo Parish
Louisiana, USA
Alma materRadcliffe College
OccupationBank officer

Biography

Lydia Patrice Jackson was born March 5, 1960. Her father, Alphonse J. Jackson of Shreveport, was an educator, a former member of the Louisiana House, and one of the ten founders of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.

Jackson graduated from Radcliffe College, the female attachment to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1]

From 2000 to 2004, she was the first person of her race to hold the District 2 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Prior to 1997, she was an aide in the District of Columbia to Democratic former U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnson, Jr.[2] She is a graduate of Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2009, Jackson made statewide headlines by sponsoring Louisiana Senate Bill 335 to delay a tax break passed in 2008 to halt budget-cutting in public higher education during a downturn of the economy in 2009 and 2010.[3] On June 14, 2009, the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate noted that the proposal passed the Senate but "appears to be dead in the House". Jackson was to have addressed the Press Club of Baton Rouge on the next day.[4] See also cuts to higher education.

Outside the legislature, Jackson is a former research coordinator for Marshall Sigler, Inc.[5] She later became a business development officer and vice president for Capital One Bank.[6]

Jackson was unseated in her bid for a third term in the Senate in the general election held on November 19, 2011. She lost to her Democratic predecessor in the seat, former Senator Gregory Tarver, a Shreveport businessman. Tarver prevailed with 9,168 votes (52.5 percent) to Jackson's 8,295 (47.5 percent).[7]

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, Jackson had led a three-candidate field with 9,393 votes (43.4 percent). Tarver trailed with 9,015 (41.6 percent). A third candidate, the white conservative Republican Jim Slagle, held the remaining 3,259 votes (15 percent).[8]

Both the Jackson and Tarver families are long-time advocates for civil rights in the Shreveport community.

Notes
  1. "2019 National Honorary Soror – National Iota Website". Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  2. Jackson bio on the Louisiana Senate site. Archived June 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Mike Hasten, "Senate approves delaying tax break" in Shreveport Times, 2009 June 04. Arguments supporting SB 335: John L. Crain, "Concerns about higher ed funding" in Daily Star (Hammond, Louisiana), 2009 June 10, pp. 4A, 5A. Arguments opposing SB 335: C. B. Forgotston, "Mullet Scribe: State cries wolf too often" in Daily Star, 2009 June 09.
  4. "Sen. Lydia Jackson Press Club guest" in Advocate (Baton Rouge), 2009 June 14, p. 3B.
  5. "Louisiana: Lydia Jackson", Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008 (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, New Jersey, 2007), p. 661
  6. Under One Roof: Building Communities in the Delta Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, 11th Annual Delta Conference of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Mid-South Delta Region, Greenville, Mississippi, September 22–24, 2008.
  7. Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, November 19, 2011
  8. "Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 2011". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
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