U.S. Rep. Danny Davis on Sunday endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy.
Davis and Kennedy made the announcement at the Greater St. John Bible Church, 1256 N. Waller, in the Austin neighborhood.
Davis pointed to Kennedy’s lineage — his father, Robert F. Kennedy, served as U.S. attorney general and his uncle John F. Kennedy was the nation’s 35th president — as signs of good things still to come in Illinois under the Kennedy name.
“I voted proudly for the first time for John Fitzgerald Kennedy for president of the United States,” Davis said. “Good fruit does not fall too far from the tree.”
Chris Kennedy recalled that when he served as chairman of the board of trustees of the University of Illinois from 2009 to 2015, Davis was plainspoken about the need for a higher education system to better reflect the diversity of the state.
“He said to me, ‘Your father and your uncle, they were willing to send in federal troops to improve the educational opportunities for people of color in the United States. How far will you go?’” Kennedy said. “I said, ‘I’ll go that far.’”
In 1962 President Kennedy sent federal troops to the University of Mississippi to ensure blacks were allowed to integrate into the student body.
Davis’ endorsement comes as gubernatorial candidates maneuver to court black voters ahead of the primary March 20.
J.B. Pritzker, another candidate for the Democratic nomination, announced in August that he’d secured the endorsement of Secretary of State Jesse White, another key black leader.
On Sunday, Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin and former Chicago Ald. Bob Shaw endorsed Kennedy alongside Davis.
Kennedy and Davis have known each other for years.
The Kennedy family for decades owned the Merchandise Mart, which is in Davis’ congressional district, until 1998. And Kennedy helmed Mart operations for its new owners from 2000 to 2011.
Kennedy is also in the process of developing two skyscrapers on land his family owns adjacent to the Merchandise Mart.
Davis, 76, won re-election in 2016 with 84.2 percent of the vote.
Kennedy described Davis’ endorsement as a “covenant.”
“I know if I don’t do the things as governor that I promised the congressman and his allies that I would do, that the congressman will stand up to me, report to all of you and hold me to the promises that I have made. And that, that gives me strength,” Kennedy said. “And for that, I am thankful.”
Kennedy’s wife, Sheila, as well as his daughters, Kate and Sarah, attended Sunday’s event.
Other Democrats in the race are state Sen. Daniel Biss; Bob Daiber, regional superintendent of schools in downstate Madison County; anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman; Robert Marshall, a physician from Burr Ridge; and small-business owner Alex Paterakis.
