Jackie Clarkson
Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson (born January 17, 1936)[1] is an American politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002, and multiple tenures on the New Orleans City Council (1990–94, 2002–06, 2007–2013). She has been Honorary consul of Lithuania in New Orleans since December 2014.[2] She is the mother of actress Patricia Clarkson.
Jackie Clarkson | |
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![]() Jackie Clarkson, 2012 | |
Member of the New Orleans City Council | |
In office 2007–2014 | |
Preceded by | Michael C. Darnell (interim) |
Succeeded by | Jason Williams |
Constituency | At-large (division 2) |
In office 2002–2006 | |
Preceded by | Troy Carter |
Succeeded by | James Carter |
Constituency | District C |
In office 1990–1994 | |
Preceded by | Mike Early |
Succeeded by | Troy Carter |
Constituency | District C |
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 102nd district | |
In office 1994–2002 | |
Preceded by | Troy Carter |
Succeeded by | Jeff Arnold |
Personal details | |
Born | Jacquelyn Brechtel January 17, 1936 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Arthur Clarkson |
Children | 5, including Patricia |
Background
Clarkson's maternal grandmother, Sophie Bass, was a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania.[1][3] She is the daughter of Sophie (née Berengher) and Johnny Brechtel, a football coach. She is married to Arthur Clarkson and they have five daughters, including Academy Award-nominated actress Patricia Clarkson. Before entering politics she was in real estate and president of the Louisiana Realtor Association.[4]
She 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 Louisiana House of Representatives.[5] The boundaries of District 102 are roughly the same as the Algiers 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 neighborhood.
Before Hurricane Katrina
During her second tenure on the council, Clarkson advocated a cleaner and safer French Quarter and attempted to restore the Jackson Square Artists Colony, established by the Constitution of the 1920s. A number of her constituents were enthusiastic about her efforts, whereas others, especially street performers and tarot readers, were rather apprehensive. Others were alarmed by her proposal to eliminate public space in the name of safety.
After Hurricane Katrina
Clarkson ran for Councilmember at Large in 2006, but she lost in the general election, often called the runoff in Louisiana, against Arnie Fielkow, another Democrat and former Executive Vice President of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints. Mayor Ray Nagin 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 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.[6]
Clarkson in 2008 and 2009 became particularly outspoken in defending likeminded councilwoman Stacy Head in a feud with city sanitation director Veronica White. Clarkson called for White's dismissal, but Nagin defended White.[7]
Clarkson was re-elected as Councilmember at Large in February 2010 (again narrowly defeating Cynthia Willard-Lewis),[8] and was named president of the council in May 2011.[9]
Election history
Although a lifelong Democrat, Clarkson has received support from Republican organizations including the Parish Executive Committee of the Orleans Parish Republican Party.[10] 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 seat.[11] Likeminded fellow Democratic Councilwoman Stacy Head found herself soon facing a recall petition. Clarkson, however, was not subjected to a recall effort; as councilwoman-at-large she represents a broader constituency, and she is more ingrained into the New Orleans political scene.[12] 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.[13]
![](../I/m/Patricia_Clarkson_2.jpg)
Councilmember, District C, 1994
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 5, 1994
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Troy Carter | Democratic | 13,355 (50%) | Elected |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 13,331 (50%) | Defeated |
State Representative, 102nd Representative District, 1994
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 1, 1994
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 4,018 (49%) | Runoff |
Yvonne Mitchell-Grubb | Democratic | 2,504 (31%) | Runoff |
Others | n.a. | 1,667 (20%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, November 8, 1994
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 4,965 (55%) | Elected |
Yvonne Mitchell-Grubb | Democratic | 3,984 (45%) | Defeated |
State Representative, 102nd Representative District, 1995
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 21, 1995
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 4,691 (45%) | Runoff |
Ron Guidry | Democratic | 3,952 (38%) | Runoff |
Others | n.a. | 1,685 (17%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, November 18, 1995
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 6,040 (51%) | Elected |
Ron Guidry | Democratic | 5,829 (49%) | Defeated |
State Representative, 102nd Representative District, 1999
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 23, 1999
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 5,520 (62%) | Elected |
Kenneth Garrett | Democratic | 1,453 (16%) | Defeated |
Others | n.a. | 1,888 (22%) | Defeated |
Councilmember, District C, 2002
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 2, 2002
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 11,961 (53%) | Elected |
Catherine Smith | Democratic | 3,783 (17%) | Defeated |
Others | n.a. | 7,013 (30%) | Defeated |
Councilmember(s) at Large (2), 2006
Threshold > 25%
First Ballot, April 22, 2006
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Oliver Thomas | Democratic | 66,374 (39%) | Elected |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 36,839 (22%) | Runoff |
Arnie Fielkow | Democratic | 31,092 (18%) | Runoff |
Others | n.a. | 35,060 (21%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, May 20, 2006
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Arnie Fielkow | Democratic | 61,420 (56%) | Elected |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 47,324 (44%) | Defeated |
Councilmember at Large, 2007
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 20, 2007
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Cynthia Willard-Lewis | Democratic | 20,623 (28%) | Runoff |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 15,766 (21%) | Runoff |
Virginia Boulet | Democratic | 14,620 (20%) | Defeated |
Diana Bajoie | Democratic | 7,816 (11%) | Defeated |
Others | n.a. | 14,802 (20%) | Defeated |
First Ballot, November 17, 2007
Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
Jackie Clarkson | Democratic | 27,740 (53%) | Elected |
Cynthia Willard-Lewis | Democratic | 24,874 (47%) | Defeated |
Footnotes
- "Golden Globe Winner Grateful to Litvak Ancestors". Jewish Community of Lithuania. January 14, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- Auksinio gaublio laimėtoja už išvaizdą dėkinga protėviams iš Lietuvos ( Lithuanian daily newspaper Lietuvos rytas)
- http://jackieclarkson.com/meet-jackie/biography/ accessed 2/12/2015
- "The 2000 Legislature". The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). November 22, 1999. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
- Frank Douze, Clarkson wins at-large Council seat, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), November 17, 2007.
- See the articles on Stacy Head, Ray Nagin, and Veronica White.
- "Arnie Fielkow, Jackie Clarkson elected to New Orleans City Council at-large posts", Times-Picayune, February 5, 2010.
- "Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson becomes City Council President", official website, May 3, 2011.
- Clarkson campaign web site Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 18 March 2009).
- Michelle Krupa & Frank Donze, Anh 'Joseph' Cao beats Rep. William Jefferson in 2nd Congressional District, Times-Picayune, 7 December 2008 (accessed 18 March 2009). At the time Jefferson was under indictment on 16 felony counts, and on 5 August 2009 he was convicted on 11 of them (see William J. Jefferson#Indictment and trial).
- See Black Residents Defend Stacy Head Amid Recall: Local Group Claims City Council Member Is Racist, 9 March 2009 (accessed 18 March 2009); and James Gill, "Of all the accusations against Stacy Head, only one sticks -- she's white" in Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 18 March 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B5.
- Michelle Krupa, "Surge of N.O. e-mail may flow online soon: It's 2.5 million pages of files, attorney says" in Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 20 May 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A9 (Clarkson quoted on p. A9). See also Stacy Head.
See also
- Anh "Joseph" Cao
- Arnie Fielkow
- Stacy Head
- Cynthia Hedge-Morrell
- William J. Jefferson
- Shelley Stephenson Midura
- Ray Nagin
- Rosalind Peychaud
- Cynthia Willard-Lewis
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jackie Clarkson. |
- Clarkson campaign website : https://web.archive.org/web/20071022171110/http://jackieclarkson.org/ JackieClarkson.org
- Oral History Interview with Jacquelyn Clarkson from Oral Histories of the American South
- City of New Orleans : https://web.archive.org/web/20051108055806/http://www.cityofno.com/
- Louisiana Secretary of State : https://web.archive.org/web/20060911211304/http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/
- New Orleans Times-Picayune : http://www.nola.com/weblogs/bourbon/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_bstdiaries/archives/2003_05.html
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Mike Early (D) |
New Orleans Councilmember, District C 1990–1994 |
Succeeded by Troy Carter (D) |
Preceded by Troy Carter (D) |
Louisiana State Representative, 102nd Representative District 1994–2002 |
Succeeded by Jeff Arnold (D) |
Preceded by Troy Carter (D) |
New Orleans Councilmember, District C 2002–2006 |
Succeeded by James Carter (D) |
Preceded by Michael C. Darnell (D) Interim |
New Orleans Councilmember at Large 2007–2014 |
Succeeded by Jason Williams |