For extended coverage of the 2009 NYC Local Elections, please visit the Columbia Spectator's Election Guide.
The rain does not stop Robert Jackson.
Robert Jackson, District 7 City Council member who represents parts of Harlem, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights, and Washington Heights, has spent many mornings in the final weeks leading to the November election hitting the streets at the crack of dawn with a troupe of campaigners. And when he says “rain or shine,” he means it.
On Wednesday, Jackson, the incumbent democrat for his district, and a group of six paid campaigners met in the dark of morning at 6:45 a.m. on 125th St.—just as a steady rainfall picked up—to court votes from wet, cold commuters coming from all directions towards the 1 train on Broadway and the A, B, C, and D trains on St. Nicholas Ave.
Jackson, who has served on the council since 2002, passed the hurdles of the September primaries this year by a wide margin, receiving 65 percent of votes, compared to 18 percent, 11 percent, and 5 percent earned by each of his challengers.
And with no Republican contender, one month later, Jackson is up against two political unknowns for the final election: Julius Tajiddin of the Free, Just, and Equal Party, and Firma Shlimel of the Libertarians.
Though he is poised to keep his job—if historical trends persist—Jackson said in interview that he does not want to discount a single vote. So before heading downtown to discuss usual legislative matters, on Wednesday, he rose without the sun to court votes in Harlem.
Every vote counts
“I take nothing for granted,” Jackson said in between his good morning shouts to rushed commuters struggling to grab a hold of campaign literature while balancing cups of coffee and soaked umbrellas. “I believe I’m going to win, but you gotta work hard,” he said.
According to Susan Russell, Jackson’s chief of operations, her candidate takes the campaign process very seriously—even if the other candidates aren’t likely to even make a dent in Jackson’s votes.
She said, “Even when other people would say ‘Your challenger isn’t a real challenge, you don’t have to do that, you are going to win,’ his immediate response will say, ‘How do you know? You don’t know that. I don’t know that.’ And he means it.”
Jackson—often buried in duties for the eight council committees he sits on along with the caucus he co-chairs at City Hall—said that the campaign season, if anything, was an opportunity to make himself known to the neighborhoods he serves.
“People see you out here, and they know you’re out here in the rain, and many people have said, ‘I’m voting for you, I’ve seen you working at the subway,” Jackson said.
For Wendy Olivo, Jackson’s community liaison, these types of interactions, despite his stacks of legislative responsibilities, are crucial. “It gives the constituency the impression that he is available and he is there,” she said, adding, “They understand that he is not out of reach.”
And in response to criticisms that he is wasting dollars on the campaign, Jackson argued that he is providing wages to campaigners who are all currently and unsuccessfully looking for jobs. But mostly, Jackson said, it is just about human contact. Heading underground to the C train platform, he added, “I just want to be there to say hello.”
Fast and furious
Before he finishes his wide campaign across northern Manhattan while running for reelection, Jackson has to prepare for another race: the New York City Marathon, which will bring urban runners together this Sunday.
This year’s marathon—the third for Jackson, but first during an election season—is sure to be an exciting one, he said, adding that his training for the marathon mirrors his work in the campaign and as a local representative.
“I’m coming in on the home stretch,” he said of the campaign, adding, “I’m running for the marathon. 26.2 miles is very, very tough. And you gotta have the endurance and you gotta experience pain, but you know one thing, when you finish you are a winner,” he said. The message of the campaign will be to vote on November 3rd for an actual marathon winner, he said holding up a photo of him at the finish line last time around.
He will be running alongside State Senator Bill Perkins, who Russell from Jackson’s staff said probably inspired Jackson to attempt the marathon in the first place.
For many of his staffers and constituents, this athleticism is in fact a part of Jackson’s persona.
“He is always moving,” Oliva said. “He will get down and dirty with you. … The most important lesson is to never wear heels and walk with him,” she added.
And for Jackson, the energy he devotes to his morning runs and marathon training carries through to his excitement on the campaign trail.
“People think running for office is easy. It is hard,” he said. Waking up an hour before sunrise and campaigning until after nightfall is a physical challenge just like the marathon, he said, adding, “Seriously, you can lose 10 to 20 pounds.”
Staying local
Jumping around these uptown Manhattan neighborhoods is an easy task for Jackson, he said, in part because this is where he grew up.
From the $5 shrimps and scallops from the fresh fish market on 8th Avenue and 126th Street, to the nearest Jamaican curried goat, Jackson said that he likes to buy these local favorites from the diverse neighborhoods rooted in his upbringing.
Born and raised in Harlem—attending P.S. 186 which sits now as a famously abandoned structure in the middle of 145th St.—Jackson said that as a child, he experienced very different circumstances from those that he and his wife have provided for their three daughters.
Of his seven siblings, Jackson said, “Two of us graduated from college. And we grew up on welfare.”
Because of this different lifestyle, Jackson said that he sees his role for his family now and as a representative in a different light. “So one generation later, my wife and I work. Our three kids are all college graduates,” he said.
And how did he make the leap from welfare and social service dependencies to raising three children with three college degrees, including one from Juilliard Dance? According to Jackson, it all ties back to education. As the chair of the City Council’s Education Committee, he said this is one of the crucial issues for his office.
As two elementary school students walked up the steps to the 125th St. subway, he said, “Do well in school,” to them, before passing them campaign literature to give to their parents.
He added in interview, “You gotta encourage kids to work hard in school. Education is the key.”
Onwards from the campaign trail
As the sun rose on Wednesday morning, Jackson stared at his A-frame campaign posters contemplating the best strategic placement. And after moving it around a few times, and bringing it back upright after a gust of wind knocked it down, he made his final decision on a spot on 126th St. that would directly face his district residents heading towards the subway station.
“I’m managing my own campaign,” he said, adding that those kinds of placement details were crucial. He gave a quick pep speech to the campaigners holding handfuls of flyers and pins, telling them to remember that, “Everyone is coming in—and you’re the sunshine.”
Keeping the smiles on is key, he said, and engaging people is important. While sharing with commuters both his marathon on Sunday and election on Tuesday, he came up with what he said was a good slogan to help engage the uninterested passersby: “Running the marathon on Sunday and voting on Tuesday,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “I’m running both days.”
While he expressed an appreciation for the busy schedule of campaigning and training, Jackson said he also has his eyes on the future.
While Susan Russell from his district office pointed out a list of important issues in the term to come—including housing, unemployment, and health care—for Jackson, there is one overarching goal if and when he is reelected.
The reality, he said, is that his job is going to become a direct fight to survive cuts. “My one main goal is to try to maintain the status quo,” he said. With serious cuts on all levels, Jackson said he foresees a battle for the city council.
“This is important for everyone,” he said, adding, “It is going to be tough.”
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