As boxer Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”
When La Shawn Ford got punched in the face — or more aptly, hit below the belt – by a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign by cryptocurrency interests, he hit back. But he stayed on plan. He had insisted since last fall that his campaign strategy was not to raise millions of dollars and carpet the neighborhoods with mailers, but to focus on the people he has met in the 7th Congressional district, and rely on a network of political allies to bring in the vote beyond his 8th State House district power base.
Ford said some people had urged him to reach out and connect with big money donors and spend “hours and hours” soliciting funding. He chose another way.
“I spent hours and hours connecting with people in the community,” he said. “I was just hopeful the people who voted for me over the years, who saw me get up every day and work for them, would respond and listen. I put out my record, which is to be ready, on day one, to serve.”
As expected, Ford was outraised by three rivals. Jason Freidman raised $2.5 million, Dr. Thomas Fisher raised $800,000 and Melissa Conyears-Ervin raised $620,000. Ford took in $495,000. But what he couldn’t have planned for was contending with an unprecedented amount of outside PAC money spent both supporting his main rival Conyears-Ervin and attacking him in starkly personal terms.
In addition, Conyears-Ervin, the current Chicago city treasurer, benefitted from $4,968,000 in supportive advertising by The United Democracy Project, which is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
The next closest 7th Congressional District candidate in outside support advertising, Anthony Driver, had $457,000 spent by union PACs for his campaign, less than a tenth of Conyears-Ervin.
But no one in an Illinois Congressional race this primary had the amount of money spent attacking them as Ford; cryptocurrency PAC Fairshake spent $2,464,000 on two TV ads and at least one mailer.
The ads implied that Ford had been convicted of felonies related to bank fraud, that he was part of a pattern of corruption and had engaged in a “misuse of power” as a state representative. Both Ford and current Congressman Danny K. held separate press conferences denouncing the innuendo and outright falsehoods in the ads. “It could be so damaging to my reputation,” Ford said at the time. “It could have an impact on the outcome of the election.”
Days before the election, Ford announced he had sent a cease-and-desist order to Fairshake, demanding they stop airing the ads.
There’s no sure way to determine what if any impact the ads had, but they didn’t sink Ford’s candidacy. As the votes were tallied election night, Conyears-Ervin was able to stay slightly ahead of Ford in the city wards. With 277 of 299 precincts reporting, she had 23.8 percent, 14,543 votes, to Ford’s 23.64 percent, 14,445 votes.
But Ford took 7,720 votes in Oak Park, River Forest and much of Proviso Township, far outpacing Conyears-Ervin’s 4,462 votes, 24.4 percent to 14.1 percent.
Conyears Ervin, was gracious in defeat. “Tonight, I spoke with Rep. La Shawn Ford and congratulated him on his victory,” she said. “I pledged to work closely with him as city treasurer to lift up the West and South Sides and address the financial literacy gap within the Black community.”
Ford said he made the decision to stay with values he’d held through two decades in the Illinois House, “The old-time way of campaigning, knocking doors and phone calls.”
Of course, he had some things that money can’t buy, including the support of the incumbent he sought to replace. “Danny K. Davis’s endorsement was major,” he said. He also had the backing of Speaker of the Illinois House Chris Welch, who played a key role for Ford in Proviso township.
Ford said he planned to contact each of his primary opponents and ask them to be part of a unity gathering soon, saying, “It’s very, very important those people are at the table with their ideas.”
Ford said he has consistently supported progressive goals that help his constituents. He said those goals must sometimes be tempered by patience, and that he plans to take that patient and respectful approach to Washington. Just as with voters, he said, trust is crucial in working with fellow lawmakers.
“People have to know they can trust you,” he said. “Without that trust, it’s difficult to get things done. Being a legislator for 19 years, I’ve been to Washington (D.C.) and met with leadership and rank and file. The best way to get things done is to get to know people, not go in blazing, and pushing members on progressive ideas before getting to have a relationship with them.”