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The long, diverse district stretches along the lakefront from the Gold Coast to South Shore, and since 2006 it’s been represented by Elga Jeffries, who was picked by Democratic committeemen after rep Lovana “Lou” Jones died. But Jeffries is widely considered a goner after a quiet stint in the legislature, and four others have lined up to take her on. Paul Chadha, an attorney and adjunct law professor at Northwestern, and Philip Jackson, the former head of the Chicago Housing Authority, probably don’t have much of a chance, so the race will likely come down to businessman Kenny Johnson and Will Burns, a former top aide to Illinois senate president Emil Jones.
Johnson recently sent out an e-mail blast detailing what he means by the “old school politics” he associates with Burns and his supporters. Preckwinkle, the message charged, used “strong-arm and shakedown” tactics to try to block Johnson from opening a Fourth Ward campaign office. Johnson said he agreed to rent space from a developer, whom he wouldn’t identify except to say he often works with Preckwinkle. But the next day the developer called and told him the deal was off. “He said he couldn’t rent it to me because alderman Preckwinkle told him not to,” Johnson said. “She’s supporting someone else in the race, but I don’t know why she’d do that otherwise.”
But Wade denies that Preckwinkle had anything to do with the deal falling through. He says the space he had available was simply much bigger than what Johnson wanted. “I didn’t have reason to talk to the alderman,” Wade says. “Matter of fact, that space is still available. I’d love [Johnson] to have it at any time. But I can’t cut the space down for him.”
