Davis leaving county board president race

11/09/2009 10:26 AM

By Micah Maidenberg
Editor

3 Comments - Add Your Comment


Congressman Danny Davis won't challenge incumbent county board president Todd Stroger.

Congressman Danny Davis has announced he'll seek another term representing the 7th District in Washington rather than run for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the Sun-Times is reporting.
The move is expected to scramble the race for 7th District, inspiring some of the candidates who turned in signatures to be on the Feb. 2, 2010 Democratic primary ballot to drop out.
Among those who filed to run as Democrats in the 7th: State Sen. Rickey Hendon (5th), an assistant majority leader; Darlena Williams-Burnett, chief deputy in the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office and 7th District Committeewoman; Aldermen Robert Fioretti (2nd) and Sharon Dixon (24th); State Rep. Annazette Collins (10th); West Side Pastor Marshall Hatch; and Jim Ascot, a real estate agent
It also clears the field, a bit, for president of the Cook County board.
A reporter for Chicago Journal's sister paper Wednesday Journal attended Davis's press conference this morning. Check this post for updates later and the paper on Thursday for the full story.

UPDATE 12:36 p.m.
Congressman Davis has issued a press released outlining his reasons for backing out of the Cook County board president's race:

- "I like being Congressman.";
- "I am good at it." He cites passage of health care legislation Saturday in the House of Representatives as well as bill meant to help ex-offenders, prevent sickle cell anemia, prevent suicide, reform the postal system and others;
- "I like representing the people of the 7th District";

The last reason Davis will seek to return to D.C. is a political one:

- "I have always pushed the concept of unity and have always recognized that it would be politically dangerous for four candidates from the same community and from the same political base to run for the same office at the same time, with one more conservative candidate in the race."

Some of the other candidates who filed for the 7th District race are announcing their intentions. Real estate agent Jim Ascot, for example, is staying in the race, according to a statement his campaign emailed to reporters this morning.

UPDATE 12:55 p.m.
Readers who want to know who is in and who is out of the race for the 7th District congressional seat can also visit the Illinois State Board of Elections Web site. The board lists "Latest Withdrawn."
Notice, for example, that Annazette Collins dropped out of the 7th District race at 10:43 a.m. this morning.
And candidates who withdraw from Cook County races, meanwhile, can be tracked here.

UPDATE 4:09 p.m.
Darlena Williams-Burnett will stay in the race, and challenge Davis. She described herself as a little surprised at this morning's announcement.
"It was not my desire to run against the incumbent. I decided to get into the race because it appeared there was going to be a vacancy. His poll numbers had him as the candidate to beat, and the candidate to do something different," she said.

UPDATE 4:50 p.m.
State Sen. Rickey Hendon (5th) withdrew his name from the 7th District race, at 4:22 p.m.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m.
Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) withdrew from the 7th District race at 4:43 p.m.


3 Comments - Add Your Comment



By here 4ever from South Loop
Posted: 11/11/2009 3:15 PM

Fioretti got out of his car to cover up some graffiti \"with a can of spray paint\" as you say?! He\'s worse than I thought!


By Anonymous from South Loop
Posted: 11/10/2009 8:55 PM

Wayyy too harsh on our new alderman. Anyone who sets foot outside their door can see in two years hes done 10x as much as Haithcock did in fifteen. I kid you not I saw him jump out of his Buick one day with a can of spray paint and cover up some graffiti on a trash can on Van Buren. That did it for me. He's got to be the hardest working alderman. Most of them don't do anything.


By --- The 2nd Ward needs a full time alderman!!! -- from --- Ald. Bob needs to keep his campaign promises!
Posted: 11/09/2009 2:02 PM

GOOD! Now maybe our wayward Ald. Bob can go back to attending to the needs of the 2nd Ward instead of chasing the fool's errand of running for Congress. While his ego & ambition show no bounds, his ability to win in the 7th District is mediocre at best. The 7th has many diverse constituencies (take a look at a map of the 7th), and with all of the people running, he would get a 3rd or 4th place plurality AT BEST - all while the 2nd Ward would continue to suffer broken campaign promises.