[1] After Strickland chose not to pursue reelection to the State Senate in 2012 in order to mount an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives, Jackson was elected to succeed him.

Jackson is a former prosecutor, the co-founder of two nonprofit organizations, and also served as an adjunct professor at Antioch University.

[2] In 1971, Jackson received her bachelor of arts degree in Government and Sociology from Scripps College in Claremont, California.

In 2016 Huffington Post named Jackson one of 11 women around the country "blazing new trails" in American politics.

In 2018, Governor Brown signed into law her SB 826, which required gender diversity on California's corporate boards.

[13] In 2020, Jackson's SB 1383 to expand job protection for family leave to millions of Californians was signed into law by Governor Newsom.

[16] Jackson is married to retired Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge George Eskin.