{"id":128,"date":"2026-05-22T23:39:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:39:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:39:33","slug":"how-jesse-jackson-set-the-stage-for-bernie-sanders-and-todays-progressives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"How Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today\u2019s progressives"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jesse Jackson\u2019s two campaigns for president, in 1984 and 1988, were unsuccessful but historic. The civil rights activist and organizer, who died on Feb. 17, 2026, helped pave the way for Barack Obama\u2019s election a generation later as the nation\u2019s first \u2013 and so far only \u2013 African American president.<\/p>\n

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Jackson\u2019s campaigns energized a multiracial coalition that not only provided support for other late-20th-century Democratic politicians, including President Bill Clinton, but helped create an organizing template \u2013 a so-called Rainbow Coalition combining Black, Latino, working-class white and young voters \u2013 that continues to resonate in progressive politics today.<\/p>\n

Vermont, where I teach political science, did not look like fertile ground for Jackson when he first ran for president. , as now, Vermont was in the country. But if Jackson seemed like an awkward fit for a mostly rural, lily-white state, he nonetheless saw possibilities there.<\/p>\n

He campaigned in Vermont twice in 1984, , the state capital, \u201cIf I win Vermont, the nation will never be the same again.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not win Vermont, taking just 8% of the Democratic primary vote in 1984 but tripling his share to 26% in 1988. Appealing to voters in small, rural New England precincts was a remarkable achievement for a candidate identified with Chicago and civil rights campaigns in the South.<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s presidential ambitions coincided with a pivotal moment in Vermont politics: The state\u2019s voting patterns were shifting left, with new residents arriving and changing the state\u2019s culture and economy. In 1970, had been born there. By 1990, that figure had dropped by 10 percentage points.<\/p>\n

The , which was formed to support Jackson\u2019s first campaign, organized a crucial constituency in a fluid time, establishing patterns that would persist for decades.<\/p>\n

Setting the standard in Vermont<\/h2>\n

Jackson created a \u201cPeople\u2019s Platform\u201d that would sound familiar to today\u2019s progressives, calling for higher taxes on businesses, higher minimum wages and single-payer, universal health care. <\/p>\n

In light of Jackson\u2019s efforts, Vermont activists saw the potential for a durable statewide organization. Rather than disband the Vermont Rainbow Coalition after the 1984 primary, they kept the group going, endorsing candidates in campaigns for the legislature and statewide office in each of the next three election cycles. The coalition also endorsed Bernie Sanders\u2019 failed bid for Congress in 1988. <\/p>\n

Sanders served eight years as mayor of Burlington as an \u201cindependent socialist,\u201d cultivating a core collection of local allies known as the Progressive Coalition who sought to wrest power away from establishment members of the city\u2019s Board of Aldermen.<\/p>\n

In 1992, the to form the statewide Progressive Coalition.<\/p>\n

The Jackson-Sanders lineage<\/h2>\n

Sanders eventually went on to win election to the House as an independent in 1990, serving in the chamber until winning his Senate seat, also as an independent, in 2006. His presidential runs in 2016 and 2020 made him a prominent national figure and a leader among progressives.<\/p>\n

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated a member of the House Democratic leadership in a stunning 2018 primary upset in New York, had been a Sanders campaign organizer and remains his close ally. On Jan. 1, 2026, Sanders swore in Zohran Mamdani \u2013 like Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist \u2013 as mayor of New York City.<\/p>\n

Sanders had endorsed Jackson for president in 1988. Years later, Jackson returned the favor.<\/p>\n

Sanders paid tribute to Jackson at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. \u201cJesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cJesse\u2019s contribution to modern history is not just bringing us together \u2013 it is bringing us together around a progressive agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not just Vermont<\/h2>\n

In Vermont, Jackson performed surprisingly well in unlikely places \u2013 taking nearly 20% of the 1984 primary vote in working-class Bakersfield and Belvidere, for example.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Vermont Progressive Party, which emerged out of the old Vermont Progressive Coalition, is one of the most successful third parties in the nation, winning official \u201cmajor party\u201d status in the state shortly after its official founding in 2000. The party has elected candidates to the state legislature, city councils and even a few statewide offices, including that of lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

Vermont was not alone in experiencing the catalyzing effect of Jackson\u2019s presidential runs. Jackson had a significant mobilizing impact on Black voters nationwide. In Washington state, the Washington Rainbow Coalition started in Seattle and spread across the state between 1984 and 1996. New Jersey and Pennsylvania had their own successful and independent Rainbow Coalitions. In 2003, the Rainbow Coalition Party of Massachusetts joined the Green Party to become the Green Rainbow Party.<\/p>\n

In my own research, I\u2019ve investigated the durability of the \u201cJackson effect\u201d in Vermont. There is no better test of what differentiates the Vermont Progressive Party from the state\u2019s Democratic Party than the 2016 Democratic primary race for lieutenant governor, which pitted progressive David Zuckerman against two prominent, mainstream Democrats.<\/p>\n

Zuckerman beat the Democrats most handily in towns that had voted the most heavily for Jesse Jackson in 1984, an effect that persisted even when controlling for population, partisanship and liberalism.<\/p>\n

Many people would point to Sanders as the catalyst for Vermont\u2019s continuing progressive movement. But Sanders and the progressives owe much to Jackson.<\/p>\n

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The coalitions that Jackson built during his presidential campaigns created enduring infrastructure for later progressives, particularly in Vermont.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[315],"tags":[494,501,497,491,317,493,492,500,498,499,496,495],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-african-americans","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-coalition","tag-democrats","tag-election-campaigns","tag-elections","tag-jesse-jackson","tag-progressive","tag-progressives","tag-third-parties","tag-vermont"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today\u2019s progressives - Pro Relocation Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=128\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today\u2019s progressives - 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