E.W. Jackson Fails to Properly Disclose New Campaign Money

E.W. Jackson, Virginia’s Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, is having some trouble with campaign money.

The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that Jackson has improperly disclosed donations for the second time since he was nominated in May at the Virginia Republican Convention.

Jackson, a minister and lawyer from Chesapeake, filed his reports on Monday by the 5 p.m. deadline but failed to correctly itemize donors to his campaign.

Jackson’s campaign reported a total of $118,608 in campaign contributions from May 30 to June 30, but at the top of the itemized list of donors was a contribution of $48,155 from his own political action committee, Jackson for Lt. Governor, according to the Times Dispatch.

The Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), which keeps track of money in Virginia politics, attributes the money to “transfers in from committees controlled by” Jackson.

Jackson ran into the same trouble a month ago, when he failed to properly itemize contributions for the filing period from April to May. The report was also submitted late.

In that instance, Jackson reported that he’d received a donation of nearly $96,000 from his own campaign. Jackson resubmitted the amended April-May report with properly disclosed donors and paid a $100 fine.

Officials at the Virginia State Board of Elections will allow him to submit amended reports for June as well, but he could once again face fines.

Chris Merola, spokesman for the Jackson campaign, told the Times Dispatch the campaign was taking care of the issue.

Jackson had about $90,000 in cash on hand as of July 1, according to VPAP.

Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk), Jackson’s Democratic opponent for the lieutenant governor’s seat, raised about $100,000 more than Jackson during the filing period, with $226,400. Northam has a cash balance of $106,184.

Jackson stopped by South Boston, Va., on Tuesday, July 16 to meet voters. There, a spokesman for Jackson told ABC 13 that the $48,000 in question came “from online donors.”

ABC 13 reports that the event was well attended but met by some protestors.

Jackson has been criticized for statements he’s made in the past, calling Planned Parenthood “more lethal” to African-Americans than the Ku Klux Klan. More recently, he said the government had been more harmful to black families than slavery.

In a poll released by Public Policy Polling this week, Jackson was behind Northam 35 percent to 42 percent.

Jackson is a graduate of Harvard Law School.