Boykin Eyes Hotly Contested Senate Race

Norman Parish | As of Friday, August 14, 2015

Richard R. Boykin intends to introduce legislation that could bring a Gun Czar and a gun task force to Chicago this week.
Richard R. Boykin intends to introduce legislation that could bring a Gun Czar and a gun task force to Chicago this week. Chandler West

Cook County Commissioner, Richard Boykin, is taking steps to enter Illinois’ hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

Boykin, (Dist. – 1st), said last week he plans to form an exploratory committee as a Democrat. In the primary, he would battle U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and ex-Chicago Urban League head Andrea Zopp.

The winner of the contest challenges Republican incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk in the general election.

Boykin criticized his opponents.

“Neither one of these candidates has been speaking to the issues that concerns everyone,” Boykin said. “I have received calls and messages from people saying they are fed up with an economy that has been too slow to rebound from the Great Recession.”

Boykin also blasted Zopp for being a member of the Chicago Public Schools Board that closed 50 city schools in 2013. Zopp served on the school board from 2011 until early this year.

“She basically left Chicago Public Schools in a shambles,” Boykins said.

On Duckworth, Boykin said, “Her record is thin. . . There are questions about her leadership when she worked at Veteran Affairs.”

Republicans recently pointed to a suit alleging workplace retaliation by two employees at a southern Illinois veterans’ home against Duckworth, who led the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from December 2006 to 2009.

The suit was dismissed twice before being brought back a third time.

In a GOP television ad, Duckworth is called “just another Chicago politician headed for trial.”

Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who is slightly leading the Senate race, denies treating the employees unfairly.

According to Public Policy Polling last month, Duckworth is edging Kirk by just six points, 42 percent to 36 percent. Duckworth, however, is soundly beating Zopp by a margin of 59 percent to 10 percent.

Duckworth also has a 57 percent to 13 percent lead with black voters, according to the poll.

If Boykin, who is African-American, enters the race, some political observers said he could push Zopp even further back.

“There is always a danger of splitting the black vote when a black candidate enters a race with another black,” said Lionel Kimble, associate professor of history at Chicago State University about Boykin and Zopp. “I think it is a dangerous game but I see where he is coming from.”

Duckworth recently picked up support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But Rainbow/PUSH’s Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized the endorsement, saying the action was done “without proper vetting” of Zopp.

“We don’t march to the beat of the Democratic Party, we march to the beat of the people,” Boykin said in response to Jackson.

Boykin plans to start a statewide listening tour Thursday in Peoria, Ill.

“I look forward to meeting these folks where they are and understanding their issues,” Boykins said.

Boykin, a partner at the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg and former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, was elected last year as county commissioner.

He recently proposed establishing a county gun violence czar and a county gun violence task force.

According to his proposed ordinance, the gun violence czar and task force will serve as an investigative and fact-finding body with the objective of recommending a set of policies to the president and County Board designed to reduce gun violence in Cook County over a period of six months.

Zopp and Duckworth campaign spokesmen had no comment on Boykin’s criticisms.

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