The past year has seen great change in Illinois politics. Barack Obama vacated his Senate seat to become President of the United States. He was replaced by Roland Burris, who will in turn be replaced by someone else in 2010. Rod Blagojevich was kicked out of the governor's office and has been replaced by Pat Quinn. Rahm Emanuel vacated his House seat to join Obama's administration (along with several other Illinois stalwarts.)
Now comes more news of change. Longtime IL-07 Representative Danny Davis will run for Cook County Board President rather than running for re-election to his House seat in 2010.
"I’m in," declared West Side Congressman Danny Davis by phone from Washington on Friday morning.
Danny Davis is my representative, and -- since January 1997 -- representative to a diverse group of communities on Chicago's West and South Sides and adjoining suburbs.
The 7th District is wholly within Cook County and bordered on the east by Lake Michigan and extends to the western border of Cook County. The district is generally south of Armitage Avenue and has one arm which extends as far south as 57th Street. (click here for large scale map) or (click here for street level detail map of the 7th District) It includes much of the West Side of Chicago and parts of the suburban communities of Bellwood (all), Berkeley, Broadview, Forest Park, Hillside, Maywood, Oak Park (all), River Forest (all) and Westchester. In Chicago, the 7th District includes all or part of the community areas of Austin, Chinatown (Armour Square), Douglas, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Fuller Square, Bronzeville (Grand Boulevard), Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Loop, Near North Side, Near South Side, Near West Side, North Lawndale, Oakland, Washington Park, West Englewood, West Garfield Park and West Town.
The 7th District is home to a host of world class cultural and higher education institutions. It is home to the architecture of Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. It is home to the Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks. It is home to some of the best known and most colorful neighborhoods in Illinois including Chinatown and Greektown. The District's suburban communities have long, rich histories and have amassed proud traditions.
It is a safely Democratic district, and Davis probably had the seat for life had he chose to remain. Why leave? The Cook County Board President, Todd Stroger, has been under fire since the moment he succeeded his father John. Amid budget woes and talk of tax increases, he is seen as ineffective and politically vulnerable. Already other Democrats have openly discussed challenging Stroger, including Hyde Park alderwoman Toni Preckwinkle. Davis's House career has shown him as a consistently progressive force; whether he'd be an effective leader on the board is too early to say, though given the lack of faith in current leadership, he'd be welcomed with anticipation should he win the primary.
That's not a given, as the primary could be a crowded affair. Carol Marin's article on Davis's candidacy focuses on the politics of race. Might Davis and Preckwinkle split the black vote, allowing a white or Hispanic candidate to win the Democratic nomination? Davis allowed that was a potential concern, and one reason why he was meeting with Preckwinkle this week.
Davis argues: "There can’t be six candidates. . . . There will have to be some negotiation and some unity" before the 2010 Democratic primary....
Then there’s the race for Davis’ 7th Congressional District seat. And race is a factor there too.
Potential black candidates include state Representatives Karen Yarbrough and LaShawn Ford; state Sen. Rickey Hendon and Deputy Recorder of Deeds Darlena Williams-Burnett.
Potential white candidates being mentioned are 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti and state Sen. Don Harmon. Harmon, for one, says he’s not running, arguing, "We should not be trying to erode the representation of the African-American community."
Still the demographics of the 7th Congressional District, which includes Lincoln Park and Lawndale, have changed since the last census. Today it is less African American, more Hispanic, and in certain areas, more gentrified and affluent.
In an off-year election, with a gaggle of candidates dividing the vote, the outcome is up for grabs.
In some ways it's a shame that Harmon has no ambitions for the House seat, as he is an effective progressive representative. Hendon is one of the higher profile members of the State Senate who most recently proposed an alternative to Gov. Quinn's income tax increase (neither have passed as the state comes to grips -- or fails to come to grips -- with its budget crisis). How both the Board President and House races shake out is hard to predict, other than both seats will almost certainly be filled by Democrats. What we do know today is that more change is in store in a state which has seen quite a bit of political upheaval in recent months.