Coalition that selected him as consensus candidate not consulted

by La Risa Lynch

Carol Moseley Braun is now the only major Black candidate in the city’s race for mayor after Congressman Danny Davis and state Senator Rev. James Meeks dropped out.

But that hardly makes Braun the consensus candidate within the Black community,  says a member of a coalition of Black religious, business and political leaders.

“She is a replacement candidate,” says Eddie Read, of the Coalition for Chicago Mayor. “Carol Moseley Braun was never chosen as the consensus candidate, and there has been much misinformation about that. There was only one consensus candidate, and that was Danny Davis.”

In November, the coalition selected Davis as their consensus candidate out of a field of nearly 20. Braun and Meeks were both considered in the selection process before the coalition finally chose Davis.

Read contends Davis’ actions were “disingenuous” and that his withdrawal was done without consulting the coalition. Read said most of the 62-member coalition found out about Davis’ decision through the news.

He wished Davis had met with the coalition to give his reason for withdrawing instead of meeting with Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., of Rainbow/push Coalition, and others, who are not coalition members.

“When we selected him, we created a groundswell for him,” Read said. “Matter of fact, he dismissed the coalition as not being someone he had to be responsive to.”

Read believes voters, especially Black voters would have made the right choice in selecting a mayor among the three Black candidates. He said that choice was taken away from voters in “a backroom deal.”

“I just watched Black people reject one Black candidate, accept one, and there is only one white man in the race,” Read said, referring to the Cook County Board president primary race where Toni Preckwinkle beat out then incumbent Todd Stroger.

“We had less numbers in the county than we do in the city,” he added. “The black community selected Toni Preckwinkle. They did so because they believe Toni Preckwinkle was going to be fair and equitable and bring good government to all people.”

Black people, Read noted would have exercised the same judgment in the mayor’s race by choosing Davis.

Davis withdrawal came after a bevy of pre-holiday meetings with Jackson and Meeks. Those meetings, Davis said, did not influence his decision to withdraw. But he added he spoke with a few of the coalition members. He said some agreed with his decision to withdraw while others did not.

Davis said he withdraw to have unity within the Black community — something that did not happen after Mayor Harold Washington’s death in 1987. A rift occurred within the Black community when both Tim Evans and Eugene Sawyer ran for mayor in 1989 against a then Cook County state’s attorney Richard M. Daley.

“When people were doing the Tim Evans/Eugene Sawyer piece, they totally ignored the fact that Richard Daley was also running,” Davis said. “The reality was that neither of them one. Mayor Daley won, and has been the mayor now for 20 years.”

History should not be repeated, he added.

“I come from the school of thought where you shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I think the African American community made a big mistake when Harold died,” he said. “I don’t tend to be part of that kind of mistake in the future.”

A spokesperson for Braun’s campaign said Meeks and Davis made a “bold and selfless decision” to throw their support behind her.

Campaign spokesperson Renee Ferguson noted that with all political campaigns, candidates want to consolidate their base and that will happen with Davis and Meeks out of the race. Chicago’s Black population comprises about 42 percent of registered voters— the largest single voting bloc, she said.

“Cong. Davis and Meeks all knew this, and they realized that our African-American constituency is united behind one candidate it would be a very powerful constituency,” Ferguson said.

Braun still faces lesser known Black candidates including Bill “Doc” Walls and community activists Patricia Van Pelt Watkins.

“She … honestly wants to bring the city together and not have it be divisive,” Ferguson said, adding that Braun has a strong base here since she won 48 out of 50 wards during her failed bid to retain her U.S. senate seat in 1998. Braun lost her re-election to Pete Fitzgerald who drastically outspent her.

Davis contends Braun is the consensus candidate to represent all Chicago. She represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate and the country as an U.S. ambassador, then she can represent Chicago, he added. He contends Braun can defeat presumptive frontrunner Rahm Emanuel since he has done little for the Black community.

“Carol Moseley Braun is going to win this election,” Davis said. “All we got to do is vote for it.”

But some political pundits still question Braun’s electability. Chicago State University’s Associate Professor of political science Phillip Beverly said Braun has not done anything politically lately except lose an election.

He also contends that the city’s mayor has already been selected, and that is Emanuel.

“She is not going to win because that deal has already been cut,” Beverly said. “When (Emanuel) said: ‘If Mayor Daley doesn’t run, I would like to be mayor’ that is hiding in plain sight.”