Reps. Rush, Davis Encourage Karen Lewis to Run for Mayor

“When the leaders of my city, when the mayor stands proudly and takes credit for closing 54 public schools that are mostly on the South and West Sides of the City of Chicago, there is nothing but a continuation of the decades-long disinvestment in good-quality schools,” Rush said.

By Lynn Sweet Chicago Sun Times
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U.S. Reps. Danny Davis (left) and Bobby Rush (pictured in 2012) are encouraging Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis to launch a bid for mayor of Chicago.,Sun-Times file photo

WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush and Danny Davis are encouraging Chicago Teachers Union chief Karen Lewis to run against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, speaking exclusively to the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday after speeches on the House floor deploring violence, discrimination and disinvestment in the city.

Together, Rush and Davis spoke for over 45 minutes , throwing a national spotlight on the latest run of violence that has gripped parts of Chicago. Though the House chamber was empty — official business was done for the day — the Chicago Democrats were aiming at the wider audience that could see their televised comments. 

After their speeches, I caught up with Davis and Rush outside the House chamber and asked them about Lewis, who is considering a challenge to Emanuel in 2015. 

“I’ve had conversations with her and I just indicated that I think she has a great deal of what the City of Chicago can make use of,” Davis, who ran for mayor in 1991, told me.

“Anytime you have healthy opposition, it is healthy for the city. . . .  If she is serious about running, then I would encourage her to run,” said Rush, who made a bid for mayor in 1999.

The districts of the two Chicago Democrats are heavily African- American — with Rush’s turf anchored on the South Side and Davis’ territory sweeping in the West Side. 

Emanuel’s team has been trying for years to shore up his African-American support and the comments of Rush and Davis about large swaths of Chicago mired in hopelessness dramatize the bumpy road ahead for the mayor.

Though Rush and Davis did not mention Emanuel by name, their comments painted a bleak picture for the nation of a city neglected by officials for decades, especially in the South and West Side communities they represent.

Rush took a direct shot at the mayor in talking about the controversial school closings that pitted Emanuel against neighborhood groups and the CTU.

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“When the leaders of my city, when the mayor stands proudly and takes credit for closing 54 public schools that are mostly on the South and West Sides of the City of Chicago, there is nothing but a continuation of the decades-long disinvestment in good-quality schools,” Rush said.

Davis talked about the loss of “good-paying manufacturing jobs” over the years in Chicago and how parts of his West Side district look today as they did after the riots following the assassination of  the Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.

Said Davis, “The aftermath of the riots have never been rebuilt. They are the same today as they were in the 1960s as the riots occurred. Nobody has been willing to invest in the redevelopment of those communities.”