In a rare move, both Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle are making an endorsement in a Cook County Commissioner race.
Both Emanuel and Preckwinkle are scheduled to announce their support for political newcomer Blake Sercye at a press conference at the Union League Club Tuesday. Sercye is making his first run for political office in the 1st Cook County district, which runs across a swath of Chicago’s West Side and into suburbs such as Oak Park, Maywood and Bellwood.
While the move is undoubtedly meant to support a young, rising star in Cook County Democratic politics, it also serves to help block the candidacy of a troubled political veteran, Isaac “Ike” Carothers. The former 29th Ward alderman was convicted of bribery and served time in a federal prison before attempting a political resurrection with a run for the County Commissioner seat.
For his part, Sercye has already forged ties with a number of politicians across the city and state, including stints as field coordinator for Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2010 run for governor and political director for Emanuel’s’ 2011 mayoral campaign.
The 1st district is represented by Earlean Collins, who’s retiring. Besides Carothers, the field includes Richard Boykin, a former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, business owner Ronald Lawless and activist Brenda Smith.
