With long-time incumbent State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8th) running to succeed U.S. Cong. Danny Davis (D-7th), voters will see someone new in that seat no matter who gets elected next Tuesday, March 17.
The district includes parts of Austin, Oak Park, Forest Park, Brookfield and North Riverside. Ford represented the district since 2008, and four candidates, all Austinites, are running to replace him – Latonya Mitts, Shantel Franklin, John Harrell and Jill Bush. Since no Republican filed to run for the seat, the winner of the March 17 Democratic primary election will win by default unless an independent challenger emerges and collects enough signatures to get on the ballot.
Franklin is a real estate agent who served as a legislative liaison for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul until last summer. She previously told this newspaper that “experience from being in public service and my community-lived experience motivated me.”
“It’s really not about the seat for me; it’s about expanding and continuing the work that I’ve already been doing,” Franklin said.
She previously said her priorities would include supporting affordable housing and economic development in the district, as well as bringing more state funding to area healthcare providers.
Harrell is a pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Austin. He also leads Proviso Baptist Church in Maywood and serves on boards of Loretto Hospital and Hire 360 Workforce Development. Harrell was the first candidate to jump into the race, filing the paperwork on July 10. His campaign website stated that, if elected, his priorities will be to advocate for what his constituents want and make sure they “receive the maximum services they are entitled to receive from the State of Illinois.”
Mitts is the daughter of long-time Ald. Emma Mitts (37th). The elder Mitts is an influential figure in West Side Democratic politics, and she currently serves as one of the two committeepersons representing the 7th Congressional District on the Democratic State Central Committee, the governing body of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
The younger Mitts currently works for an insurance company, and she previously served as State Rep. Jawaharial “Omar” Williams’ (D-10th) chief of staff. Her campaign website states her biggest priorities include “fully funding public schools,” increasing youth access to mental health services and “investing in community-based resources that keep neighborhoods healthy and safe.”
Bush serves as Director of Community Engagement for Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) and is a property manager for her family’s property management company, Bush Properties. Between January 2004 and March 2013, she worked at Loretto Hospital in various capacities, eventually working her way up to interim director for the hospital’s foundation. Bush ran for 29th Ward alderman in 2011.
Bush’s campaign website lists six priority areas. Most notably, she calls “for responsible tax cuts that ease burdens without harming essential services,” without elaborating on it, and promised to fight “predatory evictions [and] rent hikes.” The site also states that, to promote public safety, she would support community policing, “engage youth programs” and expand mental health services.
Bush was the only candidate who tried to throw one of her opponents off the ballot.
Once the candidates submit their nominating petitions, any registered voter within the district they run in can challenge the paperwork, usually by trying to get as many signatures declared invalid as possible. Bush, who has previously filed objections against candidates challenging Taliaferro, challenged Mitts’ signatures on usual technical grounds, alleging that signatories didn’t live in the district, listed the wrong address or used a signature that didn’t match voter records.
While Chicago Board of Election Commissioners disqualified 588 out of 1,224 signatures, this still left Mitts with 636 valid signatures – 136 more than the 500-signature legal minimum.
The post Four vie in state’s 8th District to replace Rep. La Shawn Ford appeared first on Austin Weekly News.
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