With 13 candidates to choose from in the March 17 Democratic primary to pick a candidate for Congress from the 7th Congressional District many voters are dealing with what is known as the paradox of choice in which the more choices a consumer has the more confused and less able to choose a consumer becomes.
Interviews with some voters and canvassers for candidates indicate that is what many voters in the 7th District are feeling. Many voters don’t even know who all is running much less whom to vote for.
That could favor the candidates with the most name recognition such as State Rep La Shawn Ford, (D-Chicago) Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and activist Kina Collins, who is making her fourth run for Congress.
Ford has the support of outgoing Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago) and Illinois Speaker of the House Chris Welch (D-Hillside). Davis’s chief of staff is on leave running Ford’s campaign and Davis’s political organization is working hard for Ford. Ford is emphasizing economic issues and is relying on Davis’s base of support among older Black voters.
Conyears-Ervin, who finished second running against Davis two years ago just ahead of Collins, has been buoyed by positive television ads paid for by a super PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Collins is running an underfunded grass roots campaign focusing on young, progressive voters but those voters are also being targeted by young, progressive candidates Anabel Mendoza and Reed Showalter.
Labor leader Anthony Driver is running a strong campaign aided by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which he heads in Illinois.
Then there are the newcomers who have made a splash such as emergency room doctor Thomas Fisher and real estate developer Jason Friedman.
Fisher has an Obamaesque appeal.
“I’m the only candidate in the race with cross demographic appeal which comes from the credibility of being a practicing physician who worked for President Obama with progressive ideals,” said Fisher after a meet and greet event for all the candidates in the race held last week at St. Malachy on the West Side.
Friedman has been spending heavily on direct mail sending voters so many campaign mailers that some voters are sick of them. But Friedman is building name recognition which is key in such a crowded field and diverse district.
“I think of all the candidates here we have the widest path to victory,” Friedman said after the event at St. Malachy. “You have to win everywhere; you have to be everywhere and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve crisscrossed this district. It’s a very diverse district, Chinatown is very different than Oak Park, North Lawndale is very different than River North.”
Friedman, a first-time candidate, is hoping to benefit from not being a career politician.
“People are sick and tired of these career, corrupt politicians that we have here, especially in our city, that have failed to fight for them and have let them down over and over and over again” Friedman said.
Friedman’s campaign has also begun airing negative ads attacking Conyears-Ervin for ethical complaints made against her during her time as city treasurer. Former Oak Park Village Board member Ravi Parakkat, who lost a race for Oak Park village president last year, is supporting Friedman.
Former County Commissioner Richard Boykin points to his experience as former chief of staff for Davis and his name recognition from his time as county commissioner and failed races for other offices since he lost his bid for reelection to current Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson in 2018.
Boykin is supported by perennial candidate and wealthy businessman Willie Wilson, former Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, former Oak Park Village President Anan Abu Taleb and Oak Park Village Board member Jim Taglia.
Boykin supports Illinois opting into a federal program that would grant tax deductions for contributions to a fund that would grant scholarships to students attending private schools.
“I’m willing to take on my own party on this,” Boykin said before the event at St. Malachy. “I’m willing to take on the teachers unions on this issue.”
Boykin said he has to do well in Oak Park to win but also may have a base of support centered around some West Side churches where Wilson is popular.
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins has had trouble standing out in such a crowded field and against better funded opponents. But Hoskins is benefiting from his local connections and has been endorsed by River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci and the mayors or village presidents of Hillside, Westchester, Melrose Park and North Riverside.
With so many candidates in the field most political observers predict that the winner, whomever that person is, will receive less than, perhaps significantly less than 30 percent of the vote. 20,000 votes could be enough to win the race so all the candidates are just trying to hit that mark and pick off votes wherever they can. That gives little known candidates such as Jazmin Robinson, Dave Ehrlich and Felix Tello some hope that they have a chance.
