Bishop E.W. Jackson, the head of STAND for America (Staying True to America’s National Destiny), is filing paperwork to run for Virginia’s open seat in the US Senate and will face former Senator George Allen and numerous tea party activists in the contested Republican primary. Jackson has likened Democrats to slaveholders and called them the “coalition of the godless,” and has said his mission in politics is to convince African Americans to leave the Democratic Party and join the tea party. As an ally of far-right activists like Rick Scarborough and Janet Porter, it is no wonder that Jackson is also militantly anti-gay, arguing that the “repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ law is a disaster of historic proportions and it must be reinstated.”
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:
Bishop Earl W. Jackson Sr. of Chesapeake has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination, taking on former governor George Allen and tea party candidate Jamie Radtke.
“He is running for the United States Senate to restore fiscal sanity, constitutionally limited government, and to fight for a sound energy policy that will allow Virginia to mine its coal and drill for its offshore oil,” said a release from Jackson’s campaign.
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Jackson, founder of Exodus Faith Ministries International, was among the keynote speakers last October at the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
Jackson brought the crowd to its feet with a rousing address that criticized congressional Republicans for being “complacent” and Democrats for being “arrogant.”
Jackson, who is African-American, said the tea party is not racist, nor hateful, but welcomes anyone who values the Constitution.
