>> STATE REPRESENTATIVE
The newest member of Baldwin County’s legislative delegation may be a stranger to many local residents, but he is no stranger to the Georgia General Assembly.
State Rep. Mack Jackson of Sandersville, now in his eighth term, represents the portion of Baldwin County east of the Oconee River as the result of reapportionment following the 2020 census. His district includes all of Washington, Warren, Hancock, and Glascock counties as well as a portion of McDuffie County.
Jackson, 52, retired from his position as a probation officer in 2006 after 34 years with the State of Georgia.
He has been a pastor since 1993, serving with the St. James Christian Fellowship church in Sandersville.
He graduated from Georgia College & State University, majoring in political science Jackson was elected to the House of Representatives in 2008 as a Democrat. He ran for a vacant seat in his first election, after being encouraged to do so by the retiring, long-time State Representative Jimmy Lord.
“I wanted to get involved in politics after my retirement,” Jackson said. “I majored in politics and wanted to get involved in some aspect.
And, at that point I was looking for someone’s campaign that I could work on, so I could learn the process, learn how to campaign.”
Jackson said a friend told him the retiring legislator wanted to talk to him.
“He wanted to speak to me about the position he was retiring from, and everything just spiraled from there,” he recalled.
Jackson now serves on eight different committees and said he considers them all equally important.
The Appropriations Committee may just be the most visible, he indicated.
“The budget is the only thing mandated by the constitution that we must pass every year, and we must pass a balanced budget,” Jackson said.
“The Appropriations (committee) affects everybody’s life in some way, whether it’s the school system, healthcare, whatever it is, appropriations affects everybody’s life in some way.”
The voting process has been the subject of discussion in the past two years, but Jackson, in the minority party, does not have a specific complaint to register.
“There was a lot of concern about the voting machines, the way we were voting,” Jackson said, “and the voting machines were changed.
“I don’t really know the answer to how do you have the perfect system as far as voting is concerned. But I certainly want it to be a fair process when we do vote … Now, how it happens – I’m not an expert on voting machines and what we need to do about it – but I certainly welcome any investigation if there are any irregularities in our voting system that need to be corrected.”
Jackson tries to look beyond majority and minority parties in his view of his role as a legislator.
“Being in the majority certainly has its advantages,” he acknowledged.
“But, learning how to build relationships and learning how to work with people that are in different parties, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, working together is one big advantage I think I bring to the table, to work together for legislation.
“When it comes down to it,” he continued, “you want to be the best legislator you can for the people who elected you.
When you get elected and the campaign is over and all the signs picked up, you have to get down to the business of legislating. We’re the policymakers in the state, whether Democrat or Republican.” Jackson said he has a good “working relationship” with fellow Baldwin County State Representative Ken Vance and State Senator Rick Williams, both Republicans. He stated he is comfortable with his minority party seat in the legislature and believes that has helped him better represent his constituents.
“I think I’ve always had a good relationship with the majority party,” Jackson stated. “The late Speaker David Ralston (a Republican) and I had a very good relationship.”
Jackson said that relationship helped him secure funds for his district. When federal dollars were received by the state, he was able to get funds for a water treatment plant in Tennille, a well in the community of Warthen, rural broadbands for the Washington EMC, and a water project in Warren County. In addition, he wrote a letter of reference in support of the $6 million grant recently awarded to Baldwin County.
Jackson reflected on the pandemic saga, highlighting efforts he and other legislators made during that time to help constituents with various problems, many of them financial concerns.
Unemployment checks for those who had been laid off were a big issue.
“We were working during that time mostly with the Department of Labor, trying to help people get their checks so that they could live,” he recalled. “During that time, it was hard on everybody.”
The pandemic was a happening unlike any he had ever experienced.
“It was a time I never imagined could happen in the United States of America or any country,” Jackson said.
However, there was a positive result as well.
“It was just seeing our communities coming together, working together during that time that let me know all has not been lost in this country,” Jackson said.
“There is still a sense of morality, a sense of people coming together to cause what we have, one of the greatest countries on the face of the earth, to continue to serve people.”
The veteran legislator says he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
“I’ll stay as long as the people want me to stay.
I’m here to serve the people. The ministry is there, and I enjoy ministry,” Jackson said.