Losing Jackson’s seat would be a blow to the black establishment. Blacks fret free-for-all for Ill. seat

Black leaders are growing increasingly worried that a white candidate might seize the seat of former Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in the upcoming Illinois special election.

With a host of black candidates announcing their intention to seek the seat, the concern is that they could split the African-American vote and provide a plurality to a white contender. The worries escalated this week after former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, a white Democrat and veteran of suburban Chicago politics, threw her hat into the ring.


( PHOTOS: Jesse Jackson Jr.'s career)

Losing Jackson’s seat would be a blow to the black establishment. Chicago, long a center of black cultural and political power — it’s the home of the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama, and the first 20th-century black member of Congress, Oscar De Priest — would see its delegation in the Congressional Black Caucus diminish from three seats to two. And there’s Jackson’s background as the son of iconic civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson’s district, which first elected him in 1995, contains a small majority of black voters.

“There’s a great deal of concern that Debbie Halvorson would win because the black vote would be split 18 ways,” said Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Democratic political consultant in Chicago who formerly worked for Jackson Jr.

“The battle we have is that we can’t afford to lose a black voice in Congress,” she added. “It would be a terrible loss in many ways.”

Jackson Jr., who has been undergoing treatment for mental health issues, announced his resignation last week. Gov. Pat Quinn has set the primary election for Feb. 26, and a general election is expected on April 9.

Halvorson, black leaders say, presents a particular threat. The former congresswoman, who served two years in the House and spent 15 years in local and state office, fell short in her primary bid early this year against Jackson, but she won majorities of the vote in Will and Kankakee counties — suburban, mostly white areas that comprise two of the district’s three counties.

Some black officials have met Halvorson’s entry into the race with outright hostility. Kwame Raoul, a Democratic state senator who has been vocal about his concern that a white candidate could win the seat, said the former congresswoman is exploiting an opportunity she saw in the emerging crowded field of black candidates.

“I don’t think she would be able to get a majority if she were running against just one of these candidates,” Raoul said in an interview.

Halvorson shrugged off the accusation, saying that voters are tired of the focus on race and simply wanted to elect a member of Congress who would address their needs. With Jackson absent for months leading up to his resignation, she said, constituents are particularly frustrated.

“People are tired of this racial stuff — they want the best person for the job,” Halvorson said. “We’ve got to elect someone who on Day One can be there for us.”

Behind the scenes, however, black officials are working to convince potential candidates of the pitfalls a large field would present. Raoul has had private conversations with several hopefuls and called on senior leaders to play an active role in unifying the black community around a single candidate.

“The problem is that it’s a short campaign,” he said. “That’s why I believe there has to be a strong message put out by the majority stakeholders.”

There are over a dozen would-be hopefuls, but black officials have identified a handful of contenders who are particularly credible. Among them: state Sens. Toi Hutchinson and Donne Trotter, Alderman Will Burns, and Cook County Chief Administrative Officer Robin Kelly.

Another possible contender is Alderwoman Sandi Jackson, Jackson Jr.’s wife. But some political observers say that with the former congressman already under federal investigation for his use of campaign funds it would be unlikely for a member of the Jackson family to try to retain the seat.

“I think it would be fraught with peril,” said Eric Adelstein, a Chicago-based Democratic strategist.

Some say the field will inevitably be winnowed, with less qualified candidates falling by the wayside to contenders who are better organized and better funded. But others predict that the contest will turn into a free-for-all for pols who can’t resist lunging for an open congressional seat. The last time a Chicago-area seat became vacant for a special election was 2009, when Mike Quigley replaced now-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“There’s going to be a lot of people running no matter what,” Halvorson said. “This is the chance of a lifetime. Open seats don’t come along very often.”

CORRECTION: The original version of this story misstated the date of the last Chicago-area special House election. It also misstated when the first African-American joined Congress.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Anita Ford @ 11/28/2012 06:34 AM Correct with reflow: CORRECTION: The original version of this story misstated the date of the last Chicago-area special House election.