Who's in the 7th District race

11/04/2009 10:00 PM


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The deadline for filing signatures to be on the Feb. 2, 2010, primary ballot for the 7th District congressional seat was Nov. 2. Thirteen candidates have tossed their hat in the ring — one Republican, one Green and 11 Democrats.

The heavily Democratic district suggests that the person from the latter group who wins in February will be off to Washington in November. Among the Democratic candidates who filed:

  • 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
  • Jim Ascot, a real estate agent
Much depends what the 7th District incumbent, Congressman Danny Davis, decides to do. Davis has filed for both re-election in the 7th and for president of the Cook County board. The power of an incumbent congressman running yet again could inspire some of those who filed to drop out (in the 2008 congressional elections, 94 percent of incumbents in the House of Representatives were reelected, according to the Center for Responsive Politics).

Others who filed for the 7th seat include Loop residents Mark Weiman, a Republican, and Joyce Washington, a Democrat, and South Loop resident Clarence Desmond Clemons.

Two candidates from Oak Park round out the list.


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