The recently retired Rush endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election campaign last summer, though he backed Toni Preckwinkle in the 2019 mayoral race. It was during that campaign that he infamously said that voters who backed Lightfoot would have “the blood of the next Black man or Black woman who is killed by police” on their hands.

Rush served on the Chicago City Council for a decade from 1983 through 1993 before heading to Washington, D.C., where he served as a congressman for three decades. In 1999, he ran for Chicago mayor, losing in a landslide to the firmly ensconced Richard M. Daley.

Elsewhere, NBC’s Natasha Korecki reports that The Rev. Al Sharpton will make an appearance this weekend at a “get out the vote” rally at New Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. While Sharpton has said he isn’t endorsing in the race, Korecki notes that since the church’s pastor backs Johnson, Sharpton’s visit is a tacit endorsement of the Cook County commissioner.

Korecki also notes that while the Johnson campaign expressed excitement over Sharpton’s planned visit, the Vallas campaign was unaware of his plans.