Mayor Jackson rubbing elbows with Democratic elite
In his first trip to a Democratic National Convention (DNC), Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson has characterized his experience as “exciting.”
From witnessing President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday night a few rows back to meeting fellow mayors from across the country, Jackson said Thursday he has been honored to represent the capital city at the historic event.
“It’s been a stark contrast between the Republican National Convention to what the Democratic convention is offering,” the first-term mayor said. “I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of networking with not only the folks here in Philadelphia, but from communities across the country, particularly other mayors.”
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia has hosted the convention that started on Monday and is slated to end Thursday.
Jackson said he has been taking off from Trenton in the late afternoon to head to the DNC.
The mayor has witnessed some of the conflict involving the supporters of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who have voiced opposition over the party’s nomination of Hillary Clinton.
“In the early part of the week, it was a tale of two camps — the Bernie camp and the Hillary camp,” said Jackson, who is a Clinton delegate. “By Wednesday, it was a united front for Hillary. You saw unification happen right in front of your eyes within the building.”
The DNC has presented the opportunity for Jackson to meet some notable people.
The mayor said he spoke with former world middleweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins, of Philadelphia, for a half hour.
“I’m going to bring him to town soon,” Jackson said.
In addition to Hopkins, Trenton’s leader met former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Franco Harris, a Hall of Fame running back from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was within waving distanceofformerU.S.President Bill Clinton. He also hung out with local elected officials U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12), who spoke Tuesday night, and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes.
Jackson has also met officials from far away as Wisconsin and North Carolina.
“We hope to continue a dialogue to talk about some best practices and things that each of our cities are doing that might be fruitful and helpful to one another,” the mayor said of the byproduct of his experience. “We’ve shared information and contact information.”