The Republican Party of Virginia will hold a primary election June 12 to choose a candidate to run for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated when Senator Jim Webb leaves office in January.

Four candidates will be featured on the ballot this month. Three are featured here. The fourth candidate, George Allen, already has been interviewed this cycle, as has the Democratic nominee, Tim Kaine.

 

E.W. Jackson likes to draw contrasts between himself and his primary opponents.

He’s the only veteran in the race. He’s the only person who’s not a career politician, he says.

And, he adds, “I’m the only person in this race who’s actually had experience as a small business owner and operator.”

Jackson, who served three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Massachusetts and Harvard Law School, and is the founder of Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, has lived in Chesapeake for the last 13 years.

He wants the nation to return to respecting the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian values that inspired it, he said.

“Of course we’re all concerned about spending,” he said. “We’re all concerned about the economy. These are not problems. They are symptoms of a deeper problem.”

That deeper problem, he said, is a “lack of respect for the Constitution as a document that sets forth the enumerated powers of the federal government.”

The Constitution has come to be treated as a “relic” by the federal government, he says.

He also believes the country needs to recognize the Constitution was founded on Christian values, he said.

“I will never believe or accept that it is unconstitutional to deny the basis on which the constitution was based,” he said. “For me, separation of church and state has been abused. It was never intended to say that Judeo-Christian views should not inform our government and our policies, because they have and they will and they always were.”

Jackson also advocates repealing the Affordable Care Act, because he believes it is unconstitutional.

“It is a twisting and contorting of the Commerce Clause beyond all recognition,” he said. “We can deal with our health care problem without the heavy-handed federal government trying to create a one-size-fits-all model.”

Jackson believes churches, nonprofits and other organizations should join together to provide health care to people who cannot afford it.

He also supports tax reform, rolling government regulations back to 2008 levels and opening up the nation’s coasts for drilling.

“Energy drives our economy,” he said. “I think this anti-fossil fuel mindset is a drag on the economy. We are a fossil fuel economy.”

For more information on Jackson, visit www.jacksonforvirginia.org.