Jackaman was a candidate in the federal riding of Richmond for the
New Democratic Party in the 2004, 2008 and 2011 federal elections, losing to Raymond Chan and then Alice Wong (twice). He also ran in the Provincial riding of Richmond Centre for the
New Democratic Party of British Columbia in the 2005 provincial election. Richmond is considered an unwinnable riding for the NDP. Jackaman, while garnering thirty-two percent of the riding's votes, lost his bid against Olga Ilich, who became the BC Liberal Party Labour Minister. Jackaman is an openly atheist politician. During the 2006 federal election, Jackaman chose to start a third party attack campaign against the evangelical Conservative candidate,
Darrel Reid, former President of
Focus on the Family. Jackaman attacked Reid for his stated opinions on stem cell research and treatment, gay rights issues, creationism, alleged "hidden agenda" issues and the fact that Reid was muzzled by the Harper Conservatives for his socially conservative views. Jackaman's campaign may have contributed to Reid's losing the election to the Liberal incumbent,
Raymond Chan, who would subsequently serve his fourth term in Parliament and the new Liberal
Official Opposition. Jackaman has appeared on radio and television shows as a guest commentator, including national TV spots on the Vision TV network with debates on religion in politics being a common theme. A common thread to Jackaman's opinions are support for life extension technologies and attacks on the federal Conservatives on separation of church and state issues, muzzling of federal scientists, and governmental decisions on science and technology. ==Professional career==