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| Kim Foxx |
For
the Illinois Primary elections held this Tuesday, it was business as usual
despite the presence of the Coronavirus, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker became
embroiled in a battle of words with election officials on whether the elections
should be held at all.
Adding
to the anger and confusion, for some, was that many judges of elections,
especially those over the age of 65, decided to call off rather than face
exposure, and causing officials to beg for healthy adults, 60, or under to
volunteer on the spot.
Stakes
are relatively high for Chicago as the states attorney office has come under
fire for the role, or some say lack of a role, in
the handling of the Jussie Smollet case, the gay black actor on the hit
show “Empire” who was accused of faking a homophobic and racist attack, replete
with noose, as the assailants purportedly yelled “this is MAGA country,” which
rang false, in this bluest of blue American cities.
Kim
Foxx, the incumbent has been openly bashed for her handling of the case, and
also for handing off the case for a relatively small fine, and some community
service. All of which changed when Smollett is now “facing six new criminal
charges, including that he planned and participated in the staging of a hate
crime and made four separate false reports to the Chicago Police Department,”
reported vulture.com.
Some
local observers are saying that this has more to do with race: Foxx is black,
as well as Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot as well as the city’s treasurer
Melissa Conyers-Ervin, and Attorney General Kwame Raul, plus a local woman,
Lauren Underwood, elected to federal office from a suburban, mostly white
district, and Jesse White as secretary state; and, last but not least, Toni
Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president and former mayoral candidate, to name
only a handful..
The
concentration of black elected officials has historical underpinnings with
newly freed slaves being able to vote in Illinois and in Chicago, Mayor William
Hale Thompson welcomed them with open arms to counter the Irish, Italian and
Jewish immigrants, support that was held by the Democrats.
Irony
maybe three-tenths of the law in Illinois, and now we segue to that support
being held by the Democratic majority, and it was that majority that was the
issue on Tuesday.
“To
come out and this moment and say there shouldn’t be gatherings of 50 or more
people and even small establishments should close, even as we have to hold an
election and wipe down screens, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions,” said
Chicago Elections Board spokesperson Jim Allen, reported local station WTTW reported.
Pritzker
Chief Of Staff Anne Caprara was furious and in a later statement, a full
argument was made: “The Governor’s Office offered to provide the National Guard
to help staff the election and we also worked to recruit volunteers. 2,000
young people from the Mikva Challenge were turned away from volunteering
because the board wouldn’t reduce red tape,” press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh
said in a statement. “So instead of accepting help or offering any solutions of
their own, the Chicago Board of Elections decided to wait until Election Day to
get on a call with press and make politically charged accusations. The Governor
cannot unilaterally cancel or delay an election. Elections are the cornerstone
of our democracy and we could not risk confusion and disenfranchisement in the
courts.”
In a
city where racial tension is not far from the surface, witnessed by the mayoral
election, where some voters, it was surmised, decided to stay home rather than
have a choice between two black women, Preckwinkle and Lightfoot.
Along
with the feelings of some white voters, there is a long-standing tradition of
electing Irish American lawmakers, the “Murfia”, a term once coined by First
Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to describe all of the Irish Americans in her husband’s
administration.
Leery
about Lightfoot, most of Chicago’s business community favored Bill Daley, who
was not only Irish American, but also the brother of former mayor Richard M.
Daley.
With
so many black women occupying key positions in local and state
government and its effect on state government, and with
their power electing, on the federal level, Doug Jones of Alabama, and the
recent huge push by that same group for Joe Biden for the Democratic
presidential nomination, the force and power of black women cannot be
underestimated.
While
Foxx is determined keep her office and has a groundswell of support, on many
levels, there is discontent with her handling of many of the perpetrators of
crime on the CTA, the city’s transportation system, and the roving gangs
committing retail theft along posh Michigan Avenue, where perps escape with
armloads of designer duds and handbags, and some fleeing on the famed L trains.
Some
are objecting that the issue is not equivalent with the mishandling of
Smollett, and that by not separating the two has not only simply racial
undertones, but a desire to break the power of black elected officials in the
city.
There
has been lower voter turnout, and on another cold day, but also had a huge
surge of early voting, 118,000 according to officials but only 10,000 voted in
the first hour. Polls have not closed, and it’s calculated conjecture to see
who will vote on the side of history.
