Politics, race and Coronavirus meet in Chicago Primary

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.