Oct 13, 2009 7:19 pm US/Central
Ministers Gather To Back Stroger For Reelection
African-American Ministers Unify Around County Board Presidential Candidate
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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African-American ministers rallied behind Cook County Board President Todd Stroger at a South Side church. They are backing him for reelection.
CBS
Race and religion could play a major role in the upcoming election for Cook County Board President. A battle is brewing among African-American ministers over who should, and who shouldn't, be a candidate. CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports.
This is strange, even by Chicago standards. On a day when a smaller group of ministers endorsed West Side Congressman Danny Davis for County Board President, ministers for Todd Stroger had this message: African-Americans should unite behind him because they think he's best for the black community.
The group is called Clergy for a Better Chicagoland. It includes the Rev. Clay Evans and Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. The group met late last month to agree on supporting one black candidate.
Speaker after speaker suggested Stroger's campaign for reelection was the civil rights cause of the day, as about 140 African-American activists rallied at a Near South Side church, the historic Quinn Chapel. They invoked the names of 20th Century leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and those who fought slavery in the 19th Century.
Stroger's goal as he formally launched his campaign was to pressure three African-American challengers to drop out of the contest.
"We will be working to February 2nd, and we will see victory," Stroger said.
Those challenging Stroger include three other black Democrats, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown. Cook County Water Reclamation District President Terry O'Brien, who is white, is also running.
Stroger's challengers saw the event as long on theatrics, but short on political reality. They each cited a series of public opinion surveys that showed 10 percent or less of voters support Stroger's reelection.
When asked what this endorsement of Stroger meant on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis said, "I'm not listening to their political advice because it does not reflect the will of the people. And I have to listen to a higher order."
Davis, 68, holds a coveted seat on the House Ways and Means Committee. Davis noted that former Chicago mayoral candidate Rev. Paul Jakes had organized a competing group of ministers who endorsed Davis for County Board President.
While Davis conceded he might choose to run for reelection to Congress, Ald. Preckwinkle said she would definitely run for County Board President.
"This is not an African-American primary," Preckwinkle said, "It's a Democratic primary."
Dorothy Brown told CBS 2 she would answer that question "later."
The African-American activists at Tuesday's Stroger campaign rally insist that Terry O'Brien will win the Democratic Primary on Feb. 2nd, unless the other African-Americans bow out in favor of Stroger.
Stroger has been criticized by some of his opponents in the race for hiking the county sales tax by 1 percent in 2008. Stroger vetoed two attempts to roll the tax hike back.
Notably absent from the Stroger rally were two men he had touted as organizers of the event. Rev. Clay Evans appeared in a video taped statement supporting Stroger. Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan sent a representative.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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