Elizabeth Warren returns to Chicago for Saturday rally; Illinois primary on March 17

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren hits Chicago on Saturday for her second town hall in the city as she ramps up for the March 17 Illinois primary, increasing in importance if the February early voting states do not yield clear Democratic presidential frontrunners.

The Warren town hall will be at the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway, with doors opening at 5 p.m. Chicago time.

In an August column, I wrote about how the Massachusetts Democrat was the first to establish an Illinois political operation.

Last Saturday, her organization opened a storefront campaign office at 3948 N. Ashland Ave., political turf rich with Democratic progressives, potential Warren voters.

The Warren campaign is “committed to running a genuine field campaign for the state of Illinois for the Illinois March 17 primary,” said Daniel Biss, a former state senator who ran for governor in 2018.

Biss, who will be on the Warren delegate slate, said the Warren campaign is in the process of expanding in Illinois and will run full delegate slates in all 18 state congressional districts.

Elected officials present at the Ashland Avenue office opening were, Biss said, Ald. Matt Martin (47^th); state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago; state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago; and Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Commissioner Josina Morita.

Warren hosted a town hall at the Auditorium Theater in June and was in Chicago in October to support striking Chicago public school teachers.

The first Democratic 2020 presidential votes take place in February in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. If the early votes don’t shrink the large field, the states with March primaries become more important.

The two late starters, ex-New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who just jumped in the race, face enormous hurdles in qualifying for state ballots.

The window in Illinois opened Oct. 5 for people to start passing petitions to run for delegate slots. It takes a large organizing effort to recruit strong delegate slates in each of the 18 congressional districts in Illinois. Bloomberg may have the money to run TV spots in Illinois, but that does not replace the ground game needed to get delegates on the ballot.