Danny Davis to Take on Todd Stroger. Maybe.

Candidates file petitions to get on February primary ballot

By DON MOSELEY

Updated 4:45 PM CST, Mon, Oct 26, 2009

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To the cheers of his supporters Congressman Danny Davis today filed petitions with the names of more than 50,000 Cook County voters as he ponders a run for County Board President.

"My mind is made up," Davis said as he stepped off an elevator followed by cheering supporters.

But just how serious is Davis, now in his seventh term in Congress? He has also been circulating petitions to run again for Congress and has until Nov. 9 to decide which office to seek.

There are currently four African-Americans in the race on the Democratic side along with one white male.

And that, says County Commissioner Bill Beavers, is something that has to change.

Beavers supports incumbent Todd Stroger.

"One of them’s got to get out," Beavers said of the battle brewing between Stroger and Davis. "A couple of the candidates have nothing to lose so they have no reason to get out of the race. The only two people who have something to lose is Todd Stroger and Danny Davis. And they are the two that needs to work it out."

All over the state, hundreds of Illinois politicians lined up to file for the February primary election and get a shot at being listed first on the ballot.

Included in the ranks were Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and Terrence O’Brien, the white candidate in the race who is President of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Stroger has said he will seek re-election but was not present when the doors opened this morning.

Beavers called it a historic decision facing the four African-Americans in the contest. But neither Brown nor Preckwinkle were of that opinion.

"This is a democratic primary and not an African-American primary and it’s one I expect to win in February," said Preckwinkle.

"People judge me by the content of my character not by the color of my skin," responded Brown.

And the O’Brien campaign, headed by African-American DeShana Forney wanted nothing to do with the debate. "If they want to hash that out themselves, that’s fine but we are not involved in that," she said.

According to a September Chicago Tribune poll, Todd Stroger's job approval rating sits around 10 percent. He has until Nov. 2 to file petitions.

Two Republicans have said they are running. Businessman and former legislator Roger Keats and Chicago police officer John Garrido.