Cook County Democratic leaders on Tuesday narrowly endorsed Alexi Giannoulias over three rivals in the race for the party’s secretary of state nomination, while also backing incumbent county Assessor Fritz Kaegi and Sheriff Tom Dart over insurgent challengers.
Giannoulias, a former state treasurer and unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate nominee, received 526,273 weighted votes from the 30 Chicago ward and 50 suburban township committee chairs. He needed at least 478,905 of the 957,807 votes in play to win slating, and his slim margin of victory makes clear the divisions among committee members over who to support. An earlier move to issue no endorsement in the race was rejected.
Secretary of state candidate Alexi Giannoulis during the Cook County Democratic Committee slating meeting on Dec. 14, 2021, at IBEW Local 134. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
After the endorsement, Giannoulias’ rivals — Chicago aldermen Pat Dowell, 3rd, and David Moore, 17th, and city Clerk Anna Valencia — all said they would remain in the race for the Democratic nomination in the June 28 primary.
Giannoulias has widely been seen as the front-runner in the Democratic contest to replace retiring Secretary of State Jesse White, racking up support across organized labor while maintaining a huge campaign cash advantage over the other candidates.
Speaking to committee members at Tuesday’s slating session, he acknowledged the divisions, while warning that he expected 2022 to be a “very challenging year for Democrats” and promising to work on building party unity in his campaign.
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“To those of you who are supporting my candidacy, for being supportive, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done for me,” he said. “And to those of you who will not be voting for me today. I really look forward to working hard, to coming out to the wards, coming out to your townships (and) earning your support and working hard.”
Frank Zuccarelli, committeeman for vote-rich Thornton Township, spoke out for Giannoulias while acknowledging there was tension among committee members over filling a post that has had a Black incumbent since 1998 with a white male — Giannoulias’ rivals are all people of color.
He said while White may have started out being best known as an African-American politician, “he ended up as the finest executive in the secretary of state’s office that we’ve ever seen.”
“We truly do need somebody who stands in Jesse White’s place, that can take his place, regardless of their color,” Zuccarelli said.
Zuccarelli also confronted criticism over Giannoulias’ support of Republican Tom Cross over Democrat Mike Frerichs, the eventual winner, in the 2014 race for Illinois treasurer.
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“Sometimes we make mistakes,” Zuccarelli said. “We want you to know that when you’re a hard worker and you’re running throughout the state of Illinois that you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be the winner and you’re going to be the winner.”
Ald. Pat Dowell, a candidate for secretary of state, during the Cook County Democratic Committee slating meeting on Dec. 14, 2021, at IBEW Local 134. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Dowell, who is a ward committeeperson, took a shot at Giannoulias when she urged her colleagues to support someone “loyal to the organization” who is “a dedicated public servant” rather than “an opportunist looking to further their stalled political career.”
“To succeed we must have a Democrat, a nominee, who appeals to the people who vote Democratic — mainly women, and precisely, African Americans,” Dowell said. “Let’s be practical. The path to victory is not paved with gold. Money can buy endorsements and influence, but it cannot buy votes.”
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Valencia told committee members it was “time for the next generation of leaders to stand up, raise our hand and ready for the fight.”
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“I think that our communities are looking for fighters to run for office, and it’s our time to be bold and brave and make sure we support candidates that are doers,” said Valencia, who was appointed clerk in 2017 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel before winning a full term in 2019.
City Clerk Anna Valencia, a candidate for secretary of state, during the Cook County Democratic Committee slating meeting on Dec. 14, 2021, at IBEW Local 134. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Moore called the secretary of state’s office “a servant’s seat” and “a constituent driven seat” and said “it cannot go back to being a political seat.”
West Side Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, a member of the committee and a longtime ally of White’s, told slatemakers that the incumbent would issue his endorsement in the race next month. In White’s first winning bid for the office in 1998, Cook County Democrats made no endorsement in a three-way contest for the nomination.
Slatemakers on Tuesday also backed the first-term assessor Kaegi over challenger Kari Steele, president of the board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and Dart, who has been sheriff since 2006, over three challengers.
The endorsements of both men came on a single vote after a move to hold separate endorsement roll calls for each of them was rejected. Kaegi’s assessment methods have faced some criticism and a separate vote on whether to slate him could have been close.
Ald. David Moore, a candidate for secretary of state, after speaking during the Cook County Democratic Committee slating meeting on Dec. 14, 2021, at IBEW Local 134. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In addition to the candidates facing contested primaries, slatemakers also backed those unopposed including first-term Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other Democratic statewide officeholders.
At an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Pritzker was asked about a recent New York Times report that speculated about his interest in a future presidential run.
“I love my job as governor of Illinois, and I intend to keep doing it on behalf of the working families of Illinois,” he said. “I have no intention of running for anything except reelection as governor.”
One subject at Tuesday’s slating session that gained little mention was a “loyalty” pledge that slated candidates were being asked to sign, vowing they would not back an unendorsed candidate over an endorsed one. The move had created some controversy with some challengers saying they would not abide by it.
Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella contributed.
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