A Gentleman Departs. RIP: Jay Jackson.

Former state Senator Jay Jackson, who served as legal counsel to Governor Ella Grasso and Governor Bill O’Neill, died this weekend. After leaving government, Jackson practiced law and lobbied. He was a gentleman in all he did.

Jackson was a strong contender in one of the most memorable political conventions in modern Connecticut state political history. The West Hartford Democrat came close to winning the crowded contest for U.S. Representative from the First District. He won the 1970 party endorsement at the two-day long convention as it struggled to nominate a successor to outgoing Representative Emilio Q. Daddario. Jackson was defeated in the primary that followed by Bill Cotter, a party official and controversial insurance commissioner.

Jackson lived in Madison at the time of his death.