Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White endorses Vallas for mayor

Newly retired Jesse White, the first African American elected as Illinois secretary of state, is endorsing Paul Vallas, giving Vallas a leg up in his quest to claim the 20% share of the Black vote he needs to win the April 4 mayoral runoff against Brandon Johnson.

White, 88, retired in January after a record six terms as secretary of state. In four of those elections, he was the leading vote-getter statewide. He endorsed City Clerk Anna Valencia as his replacement, but she lost handily to former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

Vallas can only hope White’s endorsement in the mayoral runoff has more weight — and gives other establishment Black elected officials sanction to join him.

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That process has already started, with White’s political protégé, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), who said he plans to endorse Vallas on Saturday.

“I’ve known Paul a long time,” Burnett said. “Paul’s word is good.”

During Vallas’ prior stints in city government, Burnett said he worked closely with him on projects including the beautification of Greektown and upgrades to the area around the United Center in advance of the Democratic National Convention in 1996.

White said he met Vallas more than 40 years ago. White was a state legislator and Vallas worked for then-state Senator Dawn Clark Netsch.

“You were a bright star then. You’re a brighter star now,” White told Vallas. “This great city of ours is counting on you to not only take on the job, but do all you can to make sure that it’s a place where people who visit our city and people who reside here can be safe.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled beyond measure to be endorsed by my longtime friend and, in many ways, collaborator,” a beaming Vallas told reporters at his campaign headquarters.

“Jesse White’s endorsement helps me with everyone because Jesse has always been a bridge-builder. By the same token, I’ve always had great success — in Chicago and Philadelphia and New Orleans — because I’ve always been a bridge-builder.”

Veteran political operative Victor Reyes called White a “fantastic, proven vote-getter” who will “help Paul — not only in the Black community, but also in the white, progressive community because Jesse is a uniter and a collaborator.”

“He opens the door for other African-American elected officials to be for Paul. He could be worth four, five or six alderpersons and a few more state legislators,” Reyes said.

An African American elected official who asked to remain anonymous predicted White’s endorsement would have a domino effect on other establishment Black elected officials and, more importantly, on older, more conservative Black voters.

“Jesse White is loved throughout the entire state. Senior citizens listen to him. The seniors who stuck with Lori Lightfoot or went with Willie Wilson are gonna start gravitating toward Paul because of his message on public safety,” said the elected official.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates engineered her union’s endorsement of Johnson, a paid CTU organizer and Cook County commissioner. The union provided $1 million and political foot soldiers to get out the vote for Johnson Tuesday.

Davis Gates said she is “skeptical” about the impact of White’s endorsement in Chicago — “especially since the 27th Ward was unable to deliver for Mayor Lightfoot,” she said, referring to White’s home ward.

She noted that Near West Side ward is “not even a Black ward,” with a plurality, but not a majority, of African American residents.

“Jesse White’s influence as a Democrat doesn’t help Republicans. Paul Vallas is a Republican. He’s a Republican who has caused a great deal of harm to Black children in this city. He put schools on probation. Paul Vallas is the godfather of the school-to-prison pipeline. He began the language of probation. He would come in and fire Black women from their schools, scores of them,” Davis Gates said.

Davis Gates predicted that White’s endorsement of Vallas would be “drowned out” by the momentum Johnson is building.

“The Johnson campaign is going to get a tidal wave of support — both Black local and national support. He’s gonna get a tidal wave of both local [and national] progressive support,” Davis Gates said.

Vallas said his record at CPS “speaks for itself,” adding “I have no response to Brandon” or his surrogates. “He will have his own record to explain.”

Reyes told the Sun-Times this week that Vallas’ road to the mayor’s office lies in holding his white ethnic base, getting 50% to 55% of the Hispanic vote and winning 20% to 25% of the African American vote.

Johnson has a long way to go to prevent that from happening.

Johnson punched his ticket to the runoff by winning nine progressive wards on the North and Northwest Sides and along the lakefront.

He won three Hispanic wards — the 33rd, 35th and 26th. But he did not win a single African American ward. He finished third behind Lightfoot and Vallas in the 29th, a close second in a handful of other Black wards, including the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 20th and a distant second in a bunch of others.

“He has to really introduce himself,” said political strategist Delmarie Cobb. “People didn’t know Lori, and people didn’t know him.”

Contributing: Ashlee Rezin