Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson graduated from Grayson County High School. He earned a graduate degree from Liberty University in 2020.

His career experience includes working as a mental health professional.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I work in the mental health field and am a behavioral leadership graduate student, author, and lifelong advocate for Southwest Virginia families. Having worked directly on the frontlines of community health and human services, I understand the real challenges our region faces from rural healthcare deserts to economic stagnation. I am running as a true Independent candidate in Virginia’s 9th District because Southwest Virginia deserves a leader accountable to local residents, not party bosses, corporate PACs, or Washington special interests.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

A True Independent Voice Free from Party Machines:

While Morgan Griffith answers to national party leadership and Joy Powers follows party platform mandates, I am bound only to the people of Southwest Virginia. I have signed the Purple Pledge to represent independent, non-partisan solutions that put our working families, rural infrastructure, and local economic needs first leaving two-party gridlock and Washington political games behind.Protecting Our Land, Water, and Energy Grid from Exploitative Data Centers:

Southwest Virginia’s natural resources, farmland, and utility grid belong to our local communities, not out-of-state tech corporations. I am firmly opposed to dumping land-consuming, energy-draining data center developments across our district. These developments drive up local electricity rates, drain water reserves, and consume land while delivering minimal long-term employment for residents.Strengthening Community Health, Rural Healthcare, and Economic Sovereignty:

Drawing on my background as a mental health professional and counselor, I am dedicated to expanding access to rural healthcare, mental health, and addiction recovery resources without corporate red tape. Southwest Virginia needs sustainable local jobs, direct support for working families, and transparent leadership that protects our quality of life and restores faith in public service.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am fighting for an economy and healthcare system that leaves no one behind. Both parties focus almost exclusively on appealing to the middle class and wealthy, completely ignoring poor and working-class families who form the backbone of our communities. Everyone has a vital role to play, and everyone deserves a voice. My priority is delivering hard solutions: expanding rural healthcare, deploying mobile health units directly to our military veterans in isolated areas, and stopping predatory data center developments that raise local utility rates and consume our land. As an Independent, I answer to the people—not corporate interests or party bosses.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to grass-roots community leaders, advocates, and historical reformers who put people over party and fought relentlessly for working-class dignity. I admire those who refused to accept that rural communities should settle for leftover healthcare, decaying infrastructure, or economic exploitation. My goal is to follow the example of independent leaders who build coalitions across political divides to deliver tangible relief directly to families, veterans, and overlooked workers.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Uncompromised independence, absolute transparency, and genuine empathy. Southwest Virginia has been paralyzed by career politicians tied to corporate PACs and party bosses who vote along party lines instead of putting local families first. An elected official must have the moral courage to stand up to out-of-state monopolies like data center developers threatening our land and utility rates and be completely accountable to working people, veterans, and the marginalized, not D.C. elites.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility is protecting our region's economic sovereignty and human well-being. That means fighting for the working class and lower-income families who form our backbone, delivering mobile healthcare units directly to rural veterans, safeguarding our energy grid, and rejecting top-down partisan agendas. A Representative’s duty is to serve as an accessible, fierce champion for Southwest Virginia bringing federal resources back to our towns without selling out our land or resources to big tech conglomerates.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to leave a legacy of restored power to the people of Southwest Virginia. I want to be remembered as the Independent who proved that a candidate doesn't need millions in corporate PAC money or party machinery to make a real difference. My legacy will be expanded rural healthcare access, protected natural land and fair power rates, mobile care for our veterans, and a community where every family regardless of income has a seat at the table.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Working in my family's small town resturant while I was still in school.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

My biggest struggle has been watching our community trapped in a broken two-party system where voters are repeatedly sold empty promises, only to receive the exact same disappointing results year after year. For decades, residents have felt forced to vote for party loyalty over real progress. I am running as an Independent to prove that Southwest Virginia doesn't have to settle for the status quo. Voters deserve a leader who truly answers to them not to a party platform and who has the courage to give real people a voice above partisan political machinery.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The U.S. House of Representatives was designed specifically to be the "People's House"—the body of government closest and most directly accountable to everyday citizens. With two-year terms and district-level representation, it gives a direct voice to working-class families, farmers, and miners. What makes it unique is its potential to drive immediate, responsive change. As an Independent, I will honor that original purpose by ensuring Virginia's 9th District is represented by a voice beholden strictly to local residents, not party platforms or foreign-first spending policies.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Our greatest challenge is restoring domestic economic security while breaking free from destructive foreign policy habits. For years, politicians in both major parties have spent hundreds of billions rebuilding foreign nations destroying countries in endless wars only to promise to rebuild them better than ever—while neglecting the everyday struggles of American families right here at home.

This foreign-first mindset leaves working communities in Southwest Virginia to absorb the fallout: surging grocery prices, inflated electric bills, and crumbling rural infrastructure. Over the next decade, we must stop playing nation-builder overseas and focus our resources entirely on American workers, lower energy rates, robust rural healthcare, and local economic independence.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is necessary when it serves the interest of working families, but it should never mean compromising on principles. Policymaking requires reaching across the aisle to solve real, everyday problems like expanding rural healthcare, supporting our veterans, and lowering energy and grocery costs. However, I will never "compromise" by selling out Southwest Virginia to corporate PACs, party bosses, or out-of-state tech developers who want to drain our power grid with speculative data centers. True compromise means finding practical solutions for the American people without sacrificing our region's economic security or independence.

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

The Challenger disaster of 1986