Rev. Jesse Jackson and Others

Rev. Jesse Jackson was the second African America to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. A civil rights activist, and Baptist minister, he ran twice in 1984 and 1988.

In 1984, he was pretty much written off as a fringe candidate. Therefore, it was quite a surprise when he came in third in the nomination race behind Gary Hart and Vice President Walter Mondale. He won 18.2% of the popular vote, won 5 state contests and 12% of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention.

When he ran for the Democratic nomination in 1988, his results were even better. He came in second to Michael Dukakis. He won 29% of the popular vote, 11 state contests, and 29.7% of the delegates.

Jackson has been in the public eye for many decades and has been involved in numerous civil rights and international activities. He is primarily known as the founder of the Rainbow Coalition which merged with PUSH to create the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

In 2004, Rev. Al Sharpton and Former Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun both briefly ran for the Democratic nomination, but dropped out early in the race.

Mosley-Braun, most noted for being the first African American woman elected for the U.S. Senate, dropped out in January 2004 right before the Iowa caucus and endorsed Howard Dean.

Sharpton dropped out of the race in March 2004 and endorsed John Kerry.

Well, that is it. Now I’ll sit back and watch how this current nomination race unfolds. It has definitely been interesting.