Field grows for successors to Robin Kelly, 5 either running or exploring options
This week, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller said she's formed an exploratory committee comprised of south suburban mayors to study her options.
Yumeka Brown, a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Matteson village clerk, said Tuesday she is a candidate after initially forming a group to explore a run. She is also president of the Rich Township Democrats.
Lynwood resident Eric France, whose father worked for several Chicago mayors, plans to announce his candidacy at a news conference Saturday in Burnham.
With Kelly running to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who's not seeking reelection, Kelly's representative seat in Washington appears up for grabs, but with the primaries still nearly a year away the field of contenders could grow or shrink.
Kelly served in the Illinois House and won a special primary in 2013 for her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, had previously said he is a candidate for Kelly's House seat.
Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin has formed an exploratory committee to consider a run.
Miller, a Lynwood resident in her second term as 6th District commissioner, was elected to the Cook County Board in November 2018 after winning the Democratic primary that March.
Miller is vice president of the Illinois Democratic Women organization and former president of the Democratic Women of the South Suburbs.
She said Wednesday her exploratory committee is comprised of Dolton Mayor Jason House, Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson, Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld, Lynwood Mayor Jada Curry, Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa, Olympia Fields Mayor Sterling Burke and South Holland Mayor Don DeGraff.
The oddly shaped 2nd Congressional District stretches about 140 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Indiana border, from 43rd Street on Chicago's South Side to south of Danville in central Illinois.
The district includes all or parts of Blue Island, Calumet City, Chicago Heights, Country Club Hills, Dolton, Flossmoor, Glenwood, Harvey, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Markham, Matteson, Monee, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Thornton and University Park.
If Kelly, a seven-term Democratic congresswoman from Matteson, stays in the Senate race, she would be unable to run for reelection in the House. She previously told the Chicago Tribune she won't circulate petititions later this year to run for another congressional term.
Chalmers-Currin, sworn in for her third term earlier this month, said she was working with business leaders and elected officials to study a possible bid for Kelly's job.
Peters took office as state senator in January 2019 to succeed Kwame Raoul, now state attorney general.
Peters' district is entirely in Chicago, taking in all or parts of communities including the East Side, Hyde Park, Kenwood and South Chicago.
France, of Lynwood, heads up The France Group, a management consulting firm started by his father, Erwin France.
Erwin France spent nearly 20 years in public service beginning in 1967 when former Mayor Richard J. Daley brought the St. Louis native to Chicago as one of his administrative assistants, according to a Chicago Tribune obituary.
He worked in consulting jobs with city agencies during the administrations of former Mayors Michael Bilandic, Jane Byrne and Harold Washington, according to the obituary.
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Chicago Tribune
a minute ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday removed the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported. Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge. 'I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' The charge that the data was faked is an explosive one that threatens to undercut the political legitimacy of the U.S. government's economic data, which has long been seen as the 'gold standard' of economic measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have long accepted the data as free from political bias. Trump's move to fire McEntarfer represented another extraordinary assertion of presidential power. He has wielded the authority of the White House to try to control the world's international trade system, media companies, America's top universities and Congress' constitutional power of the purse, among other institutions. 'Firing the Commissioner … when the BLS revises jobs numbers down (as it routinely does) threatens to destroy trust in core American institutions, and all government statistics,' Arin Dube, an economist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said on X. 'I can't stress how damaging this is.' After Trump's initial post, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director. 'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Chavez-DeRemer said. Friday's jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated. The report suggested that the economy has sharply weakened during Trump's tenure, a pattern consistent with a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation during June that appeared to reflect the price pressures created by the president's tariffs. 'What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,' Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Friday speech. McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in 2023 and became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants. The Senate confirmed McEntarfer to her post 86-8, with now Vice President JD Vance among the yea votes. Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from a previously revised 125,000, and for June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%. 'No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Trump wrote. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' Trump has not always been so suspicious of the monthly jobs report and responded enthusiastically after the initial May figures came out on June 6 when it was initially reported that the economy added 139,000 jobs. 'GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!' Trump posted at the time. That estimate was later revised down to 125,000 jobs, prior to the most-recent revision down to just 19,000. The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent U.S. market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday. The revisions to the May and June numbers were quite large and surprising to many economists. At the same time, every monthly jobs report includes revisions to the prior two months' figures. Those revisions occur as the government receives more responses to its survey, which help provide a more complete picture of employment trends each month. In the past decade, companies have taken longer to respond, which may have contributed to larger monthly revisions. The monthly jobs report has long been closely guarded within the BLS, with early copies held in safes under lock and key to prevent any leaks or early dissemination.
Axios
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Scoop: Dems are trying to stop a "nasty" internal battle in Texas
Texas' mid-decade redistricting has left members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus scrambling to fend off what some predict would be one of the most brutal battles in the group's history, Axios has learned. Why it matters: A new map would put the group's chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), and one of its longest-serving members, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), in the same district. Lawmakers fear it would be a bloodbath if they both run. "It'll be a nasty race, probably," said one House Democrat, who, like others quoted in this story, is a Progressive Caucus member who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid thoughts about the group's sensitive internal dynamics. The race would be yet another front in Democrats' bitter civil war over age: Casar is 36 and seen as one of the party's rising stars, while Doggett is 78 and was first elected in 1994. "It's a mess," said a senior House Democrat, who told Axios that lawmakers are "carefully" nudging Doggett to bow out. State of play: Texas Republicans have embarked on a rare mid-decade redrawing of their state's congressional maps at the urging of President Trump. Their aim is to pack the state's House Democrats into as few districts as possible to maximize the number of Republican seats in the state. Under the proposed map, five new seats that are either solidly or lean Republican would be squeezed out, leaving Casar and Doggett to fight for just one Austin-based seat. What we're hearing: Several lawmakers noted Doggett was the first House Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw his bid for reelection last year over concerns about his age and fitness. "This will be an opportunity for Lloyd to kind of take his own advice," said the first House Democrat, who warned Doggett would "taint his legacy" by running and that Casar "will win." A third House Democrat told Axios: "He was one of the first people to call for President Biden to step aside for new leaders, and I think this may be one of those moments." A fourth said that "30 years is more than enough time" in Congress, and Doggett is "a terrific legislator, but so is Casar. And Casar is just getting started." Between the lines: "This is a perfect example of how long-serving members in our party are not willing to make room for the next generation of leaders," said the fourth House Democrat. "Others wish [Doggett would] step aside," the lawmaker added. "That would show leadership in a time when we desperately need it." The other side: "Promoting this type of division and infighting is exactly what Republicans want. Greg and I are both committed to working together to stop this outrageous gerrymandering," Doggett said in a statement. "While CD37, in which I had already filed for reelection, continues under the new map to contain two-thirds of my current constituents, my focus remains on protecting our democracy from Trump using redistricting to elect more Republicans." "I hope all my CPC colleagues will also make that effort their top priority. As to President Joe Biden, I did speak out when others were silent, not about his age, but his ability and electability." Zoom out: Democrats have vowed to fight the proposed map, including potentially with a lawsuit and by breaking quorum in the state Legislature, but those efforts would likely be long shots. Like Doggett, Casar has said his focus is on stopping the redistricting. His spokesperson did not provide comment on this story. "Congressman Doggett and I are united in fighting back against this illegal map," Casar said Wednesday on CNN. Zoom in: Doggett, in his own CNN appearance on Thursday, began making the case for his reelection. "We do need young leaders, but we don't need everyone in our team to play the same position," he told host Manu Raju. "Some are strong on social media. Some are strong in dealing with the details of these bills and how to fight back against the Trump administration." Flashback: Republicans have twice before targeted Doggett, redrawing his district and forcing him to run in a different, majority Hispanic district. Each time, new constituents returned him to Washington. The bottom line: At the end of the day, "they both have the right to run," said the senior House Democrat, adding that the issue is "very sensitive."
Axios
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Inside Thune's logjam
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