Jackson Considers Party Membership
Advocate (excerpt)

During a recent meeting with reporters and editors from The Advocate, state Rep. Michael Jackson said that, if he is elected to Congress on Nov. 4, he’s not sure whether he would keep his current no-party status or rejoin the Democratic Party.

The Baton Rouge lawyer contends that the Louisiana Democratic Party gave short shrift to his candidacy to fill the remaining months of U.S. Rep. Richard Baker’s term. Jackson ran for — and lost — the Democratic nomination against the eventual winner, then-state Rep. Don Cazayoux, of New Roads. Baker had quit Congress to run a hedge fund trade association.

This fall, Jackson skipped the Democratic primary and signed up as a no-party candidate in the race for the office’s full two-year term. That precluded a primary election battle with Cazayoux, now the incumbent. It gave Jackson an automatic spot on the winner-take-all, general election ballot against Cazayoux and state Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.