E.W. Jackson fined for noncompliance with Virginia campaign finance disclosure regulations

Not only is E.W. Jackson a bigot, he’s also a little bit slow to pick up on Virginia’s loan disclosure rules for political campaigns. On May 8^th, Charlottesville lawyer Donald Lee Woodsmall gave Jackson a $25,000 loan. Under Virginia law, however, candidates are required to report contributions or loans of $5,000 or more by 1700 the next day if the contribution is made 12 days before a nominating event.

The State Board of Elections fined the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor a bank-busting $100 that still hasn’t been paid by Jackson. Conservatives like to justify this kind of behavior as sticking it to the state, but campaign finance laws are in place for good reason, many good reasons.

According to Jackson’s spokesman, Greg Aldridge, the campaign didn’t know it had received a fine for failing to disclose a political loan in the timeframe specified by Virginia law. Aldridge reportedly stated, “You’re telling me something new. As far as I know, we’ve disclosed everything on time. But we are going to look into it.” In other words, our campaign isn’t very well organized OR we’re going to disregard the issue OR both.

That hasn’t been the only ‘mistake’ made by Jackson regarding his campaign finance reports, either. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Jackson failed to itemize $95,000 in donations made from April 1 through May 29, as required by Virginia law. The Jackson campaign noted that it would submit an amended version later.

But if Jackson runs his political ship this loosely (not to mention his mouth), what can this tell us about the possibility of a Jackson lieutenant governorship?  By any fair account, Jackson as lieutenant governor would be disastrous for a state that is already in the national spotlight for its war on women’s rights. Now add to that a war on gay rights and a host of other progressive issues and you have the recipe for a state that is known best for its absurdly right-wing politicians.

So what, you say? If Virginia is going to keep growing economically and socially, it has to have the talent and respect for each other to do so. It can achieve both through greater tolerance of all peoples and a willingness to look past our own self interests for the greater good of society.