Rev. Jackson Registers as Voter in Capital

The Rev. Jesse Jackson registered to vote in the District of Columbia on Thursday, but shed no new light on a possible run for mayor.

Jackson has previously said he is “not running” for mayor in the nation’s capital. “I have no plans to run for mayor and there is no office for mayor or any other office in D.C. open in 1989,” Jackson said Thursday. But he has refused to rule out entering the race later.

He and his wife, Jacqueline, spent about 10 minutes filling out a series of forms and registered as Democrats, according to city elections officials.

After registering, Jackson said Washington would be the focal point of his national political agenda, which includes improving education, fighting drugs and gaining statehood for the District of Columbia.

‘Be of Service’

“I want to be of service to the people of the nation and Washington, D.C.,” Jackson said. “Washington, D.C., is the point of challenge today for an urban policy for the nation.”

City law requires that mayoral candidates be registered to vote in the district at least one year before the general election. The next election is scheduled for Nov. 6, 1990.

Jackson has said he would never run against Mayor Marion Barry Jr., an ally from the civil rights movement, but after Barry declared he would seek a fourth term, Jackson refused to take himself out of consideration.

The two-time Democratic presidential hopeful has said he was moving to the nation’s capital to be closer to the legislative process. The national offices of the Rainbow Coalition, a poor people’s advocacy group Jackson founded, is scheduled to open offices here in September.

Jackson’s Chicago office said Thursday that he has moved into a three-bedroom apartment, where he will live until a house he has bought has been renovated.

While the law does not require that a mayor also be a registered voter, only registered voters can compete in primary elections, said William H. Lewis, general counsel to the elections board.

Jackson has said he has no plans to sell his Chicago home.