Political Campaigns
On December 6, 1995, Davis announced his candidacy for the 7th Congressional District, adding his name to the already announced Democratic candidates including Alderman Percy Z. Giles, Bobbie L. Steele, Ed Smith, and Dorothy Tillman. Five other Democratic candidates entered the race later: S. Mendenhall, Joan Sullivan, G. Winbush, Anthony Travis, and Joan Powell making it the largest field of candidates for U.S. Congress in Illinois for 1996. Davis resided a block outside the 7th Congressional District, but he was familiar in the district, and actual residency was not required Davis ran on the progressive Democratic platform popular in the district. He was pro-choice and supported gay rights, the ERA, single-payer health care, and some federal support for child nutrition and care.
In early January 1996, the FBI revealed its Operation Silver Shovel, which included an investigation into Alderman Percy Z. Giles. What Operation Silver Shovel may have done to undermine Giles's chances for election are unclear as he was already lagging with a mere 3% among likely Democratic primary voters in a mid-December poll compared to Davis’ 33%, Smith’s 8%, Tillman’s 7%, and Steele’s 6%. However, up until Operation Silver Shovel Giles did have Mayor Richard M. Daley's support and that of other well-known area figures—some of whom continued their support during the controversy.
On March 10, 1995, during a radio debate hosted by WMAQ-AM, Tillman and Smith called for Davis to reject the endorsement of former alderman candidate Wallace "Gator" Bradley, spokesman for convicted Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover. "Why do you keep badgering me with this question? You got a problem with something? You're not going to catch me going around saying I hate Gator Bradley….I'm not in the business of disavowing individuals. The good Lord said he hated sin, but not sinners. I'm not hating Gator Bradley. I disagree with those who commit crime and those who'd use drugs, but you won't catch me going around saying that I hate Gator Bradley." Davis never rejected Bradley’s endorsement during the campaign and after winning the primary claimed that Bradley’s endorsement played no role in the outcome, though Bradley asserted the contrary.
During the campaign, Tillman highlighted comments Davis made in an August 1970 issue of Ebony: “(T)he white female often gives the black man certain kinds of recognition that the black woman oftentimes does not give him." The Davis campaign countered that Davis was speaking as a psychologist in his role as a training director at a health center.
Although Davis was fully promoted as a Democratic candidate, he also ran as a New Party candidate. Supporting this was New Party’s celebration of him as the “first New Party member elected to the U.S. Congress.” Although the State of Illinois did not permit fusion voting, New Party advocated fusion voting as a means to promote their party and party agenda and to particularly project New Party ideology into the mainstream Democratic Party. Candidates were referred to as “NP Democrats” and were required to sign a contract mandating a “visible and active relationship” with New Party. During this timeframe, New Party was experiencing substantial growth.
Davis also received the endorsement of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America (CDSA) of which he is a member and had a relationship pre-dating his congressional run. ACORN, AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are included in other groups also endorsing Davis in his bid.
In the March 20 Democratic primaries, Davis received more votes than the two closest candidates — Tillman and Smith — combined. The first five announced candidates all received more than double the five late-entering candidates with none of the latter receiving more than 2,700 votes. In the November 5 general election, Davis won with over 82 percent of the votes cast over Republican Randy Borow and third-party candidates Chauncey L. Stroud (Independent), Toietta Dixon (Libertarian), and Charles A. Winter (Natural Law).
Read more about this topic: Danny K. Davis
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