Politics

Update: Davis Withdraws From Chicago Mayoral Race

Just days after warning former President Bill Clinton not to campaign for opponent Rahm Emanuel, Rep. Danny Davis says he‘s pulling out of the race to become Chicago’s next mayor.

Davis, an African American, is also withdrawing from the race just days after meeting with Rev. Jesse Jackson and opponent Carol Moseley Braun, whom Davis now says he endorses. At the time, Jackson spoke publicly about the need for the mayoral race to feature just one black candidate and also warned Clinton about alienating his base of support among African American voters.

“In unity there is strength. In strength there is success,” Davis said at his downtown campaign office Friday, accompanied by Braun. “I just want to unify behind the best candidate. Everyone I know thinks Carol is the best candidate.” The Chicago Sun Times reports:

Davis’ departure clears the way for Braun to run as the only major African American candidate in a crowded field that also includes former presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, former School Board President Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.

“I am totally dropping out of the race,” an upbeat Davis said, his famous deep voice booming. “I am supporting Carol Moseley Braun with every ounce of fervor that I have. I am even going to give her some money.

“I’m going to try to get every person who thought that they might support Danny Davis to switch their support to Carol Moseley Braun. I will start tonight.”

Davis called Braun “an outstanding woman” and introduced her as “the next mayor.”

Emanuel is currently vacationing in Thailand but released a statement praising Davis for his public service career:

“Congressman Davis’ work on behalf of the people of Chicago goes back many years, and it certainly won’t stop today — his views will be needed in the dialogue about the city’s future. With all of the challenges we face, we must come together to work on behalf of all Chicagoans and address the needs of every neighborhood.”

Comments (55)

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  • conservative510
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 8:32pm

    Isn’t that ELECTION TAMPERING, Jessie?!

    Report Post »  
  • betsp
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 4:37pm

    White Democrats have been stealing from the citizens of Chicago for generations. I guess it’s time blacks had their turn. Can Chicago become more corrupt….like Detroit and Cleveland?

    Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:06pm

    no wonder whys here why all our American cities with black mayors immediately degrade into little Haiti.
    no wonder why this guy Davis felt so comfortable to flush his john during the radio interview.

    Harold Washington was a corrupt black mayor in Chgo and the hate crimes (esp robbery and rape) by blacks against whites skyrocketed under him. we used to live back there for 6 generations until the animals attacked the women in our family.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • Hisemiester
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:04am

    With a little help from his friends. or maybe his nonfriends.

    Report Post »  
  • Carl1
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:46am

    Just saying Chicago makes everyone of Corruption. Like someone said, That whole city is a sewer and needs to be flushed.

    Report Post » Carl1 Supports Israel  
  • MontanaRob
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:29am

    I know this sounds rough, but if I could go back in time twenty years and drop a nuke on Chitaco, just think how much better off the rest of us would be! (sorry to the 2 or 3 conservatives who live there)

    Report Post » MontanaRob  
  • sawhorse1950
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:28am

    The thugs are in abundance in Chicago. Why would any sane person want to live there. Nothing is sacred. They will do all they can to remain in power.

    Report Post »  
  • Sledgehammer
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:24am

    Bill Clinton is now, as he’s always has been, a JACKASS!

    Report Post » Sledgehammer  
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:12am

    independentvoteril – Your memory of Bruan seems somewhat distorted. Here is an article from Slate.
    “Though she was never indicted or punished, Moseley-Braun had some close calls with the law. The first occurred during her 1992 Senate campaign, when it came to light that three years earlier, she had deposited a check for $28,750 into a personal money-market account. The check in question actually belonged to Moseley-Braun’s mother, who owned a property in Alabama on which she’d sold the timber-harvesting rights; the $28,750 was a royalty payment. Edna Moseley was staying in a Chicago nursing home at the time and relying on Medicaid to cover her expenses, something ostensibly reserved only for the near-indigent—not people with $28,750 checks to their name. The royalty should have been used to reimburse Medicaid; instead, Moseley-Braun divvied up the money with her two siblings. When the situation came to light, she apologized and paid Medicaid $15,240. The Illinois Department of Public Aid declined to launch a criminal probe.

    Moseley-Braun’s post-victory honeymoon was brief. Even before she arrived in Washington, she was blasted for rewarding several campaign workers with cushy jobs at her old office, the Cook County recorder of deeds. Her campaign manager and then-fiance, Kgosie Matthews, was accused of sexual harassment by several Moseley-Braun campaign staffers; the newly minted senator stood by her man, to whom she’d been paying a salary of $15,000 per month. To celebrate their ‘92 victory, the pair jetted off to Matthews’ native South Africa on a 27-day vacation, making use of the Concorde for one leg of their trip; several aides, meanwhile, complained that they hadn’t been paid
    The real doozy, though, was $249,000 in unaccounted campaign expenditures, which spurred a Federal Election Commission investigation beginning in 1993. The FEC was investigating charges that Moseley-Braun and Matthews had squandered the donations on personal trips and shopping sprees; the campaign would admit only to lackadaisical bookkeeping and eventually filed nearly 10,000 pages of amended reports, according to the Chicago Tribune. The nearly five-year investigation did turn up some splurges, like a $4,000 tab at the Four Seasons Hotel in Maui, but the agency declined to take legal action, citing a lack of resources. The Justice Department similarly turned down two requests from the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Moseley-Braun for criminal misappropriation of campaign funds.”

    This was during the Clinton administration and there was no way that the Democrats were going to prosecute the only black female in the Senate. Like I said, she’ll fit right in the Chicago Political Machine.

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
    • BoilitDown
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:01am

      @Rickfromillinois
      I was joking about thinking that she was in prison but serious about believing she should be there. After all, Illinois politicians and prison have a pretty close relationship. I had not been keeping track of her since she fell off the headlines.
      Thank you for the review.
      I am, of course, completely outraged that she can be allowed to run for office again, especially here in Illinois.

      Report Post »  
    • BoilitDown
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:18am

      @RickfromIllinois
      It looks like Braun is just being used as an easily defeated foil against Emanuel. If Braun is going along with this, she is even lower than my former impression of her, and that is a challenge.
      I’ll say it again, just go ahead and inaugurate Rahm and skip the theater.

      Report Post »  
  • chickster
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:46am

    Rahm in Thailand, isn’t that where pedophiles play??

    Report Post » chickster  
  • osagetrail
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:38am

    The payoffs reached him.

    Report Post »  
  • BiteMePETA
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:27am

    Wonder what the paid him off with? IL politics has changed over night.

    Report Post »  
  • treshall
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:05am

    This is just Jesse Jackson’s reminder to any person of colour who might be thinking of running for office. They must be fully sanctioned by him, Sharpton, etc. and “know their place” in the hierarchy. God forbid a black conservative would have a shot at running the mid-west’s cesspool of corruption, since the left cannot abide any black who would dare to leave the ‘plantation’ that is their base. So they must have one and only one black? According to Jackson, the be-all and end-all of African-American politics? Can you imagine if this were a Republican? Of course, that will never happen- everyone knows that Republicans don’t get elected in Chicago.

    Report Post »  
  • popeyebedford
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:02am

    David got paid off, you can bet on it. Taking a little graft is standard for a Chicago pol…

    Report Post »  
  • coldfear
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 8:49am

    ‘Emanuel is currently vacationing in Thailand” I thought the only reason to go there was the child sex trade?

    Report Post » Rashomon  
  • dantom
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 7:44am

    What election appointment only after all its Chicago.

    Report Post »  
  • MeteoricLimbo
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 5:24am

    he musta got a fish

    Report Post » MeteoricLimbo  
  • Anne G
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 2:43am

    INDEPENDENTVOTERIL:
    Why didn’t her mother have health insurance? Seems to me that if her mom
    could not afford it, then surely her daughter could help her out. Its just
    more scamming they didn’t get away with! People stealing our country’s future
    and not one ounce of guilt about it. Makes me sick to my stomach.

    Report Post » Anne G  
    • not funny
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 7:40am

      This trick of people moving their parents‘ property out of their own names into the heirs’ names is to avoid paying for healthcare themselves. That way taxpayers have to pay for very expensive nursing home costs for someone they don’t even know, while the family walks away with any assets the person owned. Doesn’t seem right.

      Report Post »  
  • DVT
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:31am

    wow chicago is really screwed with those “choices”.

    Report Post »  
  • dontbotherme
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:23am

    OMGosh — Braun or Emanuel – Chicago is so screwed. I‘m so glad I don’t live up there anymore. Unfortunately, I still live in Illinois which is controlled by Chicago politics.

    Report Post »  
    • independentvoteril
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:35am

      I sure can agree with that.. I live in IL but am looking to move.. we have Daley Jr. running the state now..

      Report Post » independentvoteril  
    • BoilitDown
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 2:38am

      @Dontbotherme
      I live in Illinois as well, 180 miles from Chicago but you can still smell the stench. A good percentage of arrests here for theft and violence are Chicago area residents. My wife’s store has been their frequent target.
      As Illinois residents yourselves, you know that the cost of Chicago politics is a heavy toll on us all.

      Report Post »  
    • DonaldH
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 3:33am

      ****OMGosh — Braun or Emanuel – Chicago is so screwed. I‘m so glad I don’t live up there anymore. Unfortunately, I still live in Illinois which is controlled by Chicago politics.

      Report Post » *****

      Makes no difference where you live– As a U.S. Tax Payer you will still end up paying more than your share for Chicago’s crooked, unethical political shenanigans.. Wonder what Slum-Lord and Union Boss we tax-payers are going to make rich,or richER, in Chicago, next…..

      Report Post » DonaldH  
  • BoilitDown
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:22am

    This is devastating news for me, I thought Carol Moseley Braun was in prison. What shocker to find she‘s running for mayor of Chicago when I’m pretty sure she belongs in prison. I’ve got to go and catch up on her activities.
    This sudden news about Davis makes me suspicious of some typical “Chicago Style” skullduggery. You know…..threats, extortion, pay-offs etc. etc.
    The fact that it comes on the heels of the complaint about Clinton campaigning for Emanuel trips my alarms. That is not to say that I am alarmed by dirty, underhanded politics in Chicago.
    Wow, what happens when you merge the Chicago machine with the Clinton machine? Talk about the devil’s workshop….Damn!

    Report Post »  
  • IndyGuy
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 12:46am

    Funny…Jesse Jackson was caught on open mic saying Obama should have his nuts cut off,and now he’s calling the shots in Chicago politics…That town needs a serious flush…

    Report Post » IndyGuy  
    • Derfel Cadarn
      Posted on January 2, 2011 at 1:19pm

      If they flushed the corruption out of Chicago it would be a F#cking ghost town.

      Report Post »  
  • LifeProject2012
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 12:43am

    Let’s see now… Danny Davis is black and is leaving the race to throw his support behind Carol Mosley Braun who is also black. Know what that means? If Rahm Emmanuel doesn’t vote for Carol Mosley Braun, he’s a RACIST!

    Report Post »  
    • flagbearer
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:38am

      Isn’t it strange that they want to “throw support to just one black candidate” in order to make sure a black becomes mayor. Supposed a white candidate withdrew from a race to “throw support to just one white candidate.” Isn’t it strange how racism appears to be in one direction only these days? America, wake up to the fact that being biased works both ways. If you are voting ONLY because of skin color, you are a FOOL.

      Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 12:26am

    Wonder how much that cost the National Rainbow Coalition?

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • CatB
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 12:28am

      And where did the money come from? … I hope it wasn’t “stimulus”.

      Report Post »  
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 12:22am

    Braun failed to win re-election to the Senate because of a litany of corruption charges while in office. She will fit right in if elected mayor of Chicago.

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
    • independentvoteril
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:33am

      Your right about her not getting re-elected what she did was try to move her mothers property out of her mothers name because the GOVERNMENT wouldn’t help her with any kind of healthcare when her mother needed it UNLESS her mother sold the house.. I personally think it’s sad when the government would like everyone to WORK and die poor.. the lady worked her whole life for her house and wanted to live there till she died.. Braun wasn’t much as a senator but what she did or tried to do is what MILLIONS of people do both DEMS and CONSERVATIVES..

      independentvoteril  
    • Cemoto78
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 7:17am

      This is just another Chicago election which has already been determined who will win even before one vote is cast. Don’t you people up there get tired of the corruption and these clowns and their cronies getting rich off your dime.

      Report Post » Cemoto78  
    • guyperram
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 7:30am

      Probably wasn’t marxist enough.

      Report Post »  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 8:13am

      Read “The Case Against Barack Obama” and then watch closely the Chicago race as the political machine eliminates opponents one by one. I wouldn’t bet for a minute which side Jesse Jackson is on.

      Report Post »  
    • oldoldtimer
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 8:58am

      Wonder what skeleton they found in his closet? Or maybe it was a job promise if she wins. She has no chance and neither does any other candidate. Immanual has been ordained by Obama and the corrupt politicians and the unions will deliver. All Chicago has to do to verify voter registrations is visit the local cemetaries.

      Report Post »  
    • Laus Deo
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 9:33am

      I wonder.. Which part of Africa was Carol born? It‘s too damn bad I can’t get elected here in my city based almost completely on my race and/or ethnicity. That’d be great and convenient.

      Report Post » Laus Deo  
    • DMcPher316
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 3:50pm

      It always amazes me how people that don’t live in the Peoples republic of Illinois are amazed at the corruption we have to deal with in Chicago politics. The state is just life support for Chicago, everyone here knows that. Rahm is the god obama’s man, he already won! This fix was in withi days of his annoucement. Now Daly will crank up his machine that kept him in office and out of jail for so long, and Rahm will win……LIKE THEY SAY IN CHICAGO….VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN (even if you’re dead)

      Report Post »  
    • TruthLover
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 6:17pm

      I’m not watching the news anymore. These Chicago fruitcakes talk and talk about this crap like their opinions matter. The whole thing is fixed and disgusting. The nice suburb I live in will likely turn ghetto as cost of living in Cook County goes up and up and up and up.

      Report Post » TruthLover  
  • DMcPher316
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 3:52pm

    Lass…you don’t understand…it makes NO difference HOW people the vote. The winner is the one that pays off the most important people, and right now, Rahm is Daly’s man, so the machine will make sure Rahm wins. It doesn’t matter who gets the votes.

    Report Post »  
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