Rebecca Jackson

Rebecca Jackson is a former Republican politician from Louisville, Kentucky. She previously served as the Jefferson County Judge/Executive and also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican party nomination for governor. She is the former chief executive officer of the WHAS Crusade for Children, a local charity that operates a large annual telethon. She is retired from CEO of Mastery Mavens, an internet-based professional development tool for teaching professionals. Early life Jackson was born in Short Creek in Grayson County. She graduated from Southern High School in Louisville and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville. She served as a teacher, first for first grade and later serving special needs students, and administrator in the Jefferson County Public Schools system. In 1987, Jackson founded JobCenter, an employment agency serving the disabled. Political career Jackson first won elected office in 1989, upsetting long-time Democratic incumbent Jefferson County clerk Jim Malone. She was re-elected in 1993. In 1998, Jackson ran for and won the race for Judge/Executive; she was sworn in on January 1, 1999, and served one term. She was the last person to serve in that office before city and county governments merged in 2002; the office was largely replaced by the Mayor of Louisville Metro, though technically the office still exists in a largely ceremonial capacity. Jackson had been a staunch proponent of a consolidated city-county government. Jackson represented the United States as an observer to the December 1993 elections in Russia, after the country adopted a new constitution and elected the first persons to the re-established State Duma. She represented the United States in Bulgaria as one of two specialists on how to establish a primary election for the many factions of the pro-democracy movement. In the following election, the pro-democracy movement unseated the communist parliament and took back the office of Prime Minister. Jackson also traveled to China on a National Association of Counties trade mission.