{"id":3371,"date":"2024-01-23T16:06:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T21:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/?page_id=3371"},"modified":"2024-01-23T16:06:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T21:06:14","slug":"jewish-insider-rep-danny-davis-faces-fractured-primary-field","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/jewish-insider-rep-danny-davis-faces-fractured-primary-field\/","title":{"rendered":"JEWISH INSIDER: Rep. Danny Davis faces fractured primary field"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 24: Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL) speaks during a news conference on July 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. House Democrats urge House Republicans to extend unemployment benefits that was passed as part of the CARES Act which is due to expire on July 31, 2020. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Marc Rod<\/a>, Jewish Insider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), the longtime Chicago congressman who has had a rocky relationship<\/a> with the Chicago Jewish community over his stances on Israel, faces a new wrinkle in his bid for reelection \u2014 a broader field of challengers that could upend the dynamics of the March 19 Democratic primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressive Kina Collins is making another bid to unseat the longtime congressman, after falling six percentage points short of Davis in the 2022 primary. Collins is an activist backed in the 2022 cycle by the Justice Democrats who has described Israel\u2019s military operation<\/a> in Gaza as \u201cgenocide,\u201d called for an immediate cease-fire days after the attack on Israel and supported conditioning aid to Israel during her previous campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the vote is likely to be further divided this cycle, with Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and former political staffer and nonprofit leader Kouri Marshall challenging Davis from the more moderate wing of the party. Educator Nikhil Bhatia is also running for the 7th Congressional District seat, which Davis has held since 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis has supported placing restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel and voted present on a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel. He offered praise for Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader notorious for antisemitic rhetoric, which he subsequently walked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank Calabrese, a political consultant who lives in the district, told Jewish Insider<\/em>he believes Davis is still favored to win the race, and described it as a three-way competition among Davis, Collins and Conyears-Ervin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s going to be there as long as he wants to be there,\u201d Calabrese said. \u201cThat name is just so strong in the city of Chicago. It\u2019s universally known. And he\u2019s universally liked by the Black community\u2026 even in non-Black precincts, like where I live downtown, he does very well just because of his name ID.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that Davis has struggled more in the more affluent, non-Black areas of the city, where he expects Collins to improve her performance. But those areas remain a small portion of the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conyears-Ervin benefits from her own name recognition as treasurer, as well as a strong political apparatus \u2014 her husband is a city alderman. But, Calabrese noted, she might struggle in this election due to an ongoing ethics scandal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That controversy has led some in the pro-Israel community to give Marshall additional consideration, but Calabrese said he\u2019ll need a blockbuster fourth-quarter fundraising haul to launch himself into more serious consideration for the seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the three-way race benefits Kina Collins,\u201d Calabrese said, anticipating that Conyears-Ervin might pull votes from Davis in the majority-Black West Side. He added that left-wing candidates have been gaining ground in Chicago in recent years. \u201cI think you have to take [Collins] seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conyears-Ervin and Davis, Calabrese explained, are likely to be \u201cfighting over\u201d similar voters \u2014 who he predicts are more likely to stick with Davis \u2014 whereas Collins has a more \u201cdistinct\u201d voter base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, he said, Collins is likely to improve on her performance in 2022, even if she\u2019s likely to fall short of victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conyears-Ervin told JI she decided to challenge Davis because she feels that \u201cD.C. truly is not working for working families\u2026 We need proper representation, someone that understands the challenges of today\u201d and can \u201cbridge the gap between the communities of the 7th Congressional District.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marshall told JI that he\u2019s running for Congress because the district is \u201clooking for a change\u201d and residents want \u201cgreater return on the investments \u2014 they\u2019re looking for better schools, increased job prospects, decreased crime.\u201d He said they\u2019ve shown there\u2019s \u201ca strong desire for change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall also placed himself solidly in the moderate camp, vowing to work across the aisle and look for a Republican roommate in Washington if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Conyears-Ervin and Marshall are reliable supporters of Israel, a marked difference from both Davis and Collins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Israel-U.S. relationship is extremely important, and it\u2019s important to all of us,\u201d Conyears-Ervin told JI. \u201cOne thing that I think I can really bring to this district, as the congressperson, is that voice to really speak to all constituents and all communities to help us to understand that this relationship\u2026 affects all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she\u2019d engaged in conversations with members of the Jewish community and worked to understand their challenges and concerns before announcing her run to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is within the United States\u2019 interest to make certain that Israel has a right to defend itself,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo I would like to make certain that Israel has the resources it needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall said that, watching the Hamas attack unfold on Oct. 7, he \u201cwished that I could do something.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pushed back strongly against calls for a cease-fire, explaining, \u201cif someone kidnapped your wife and kids, and you didn\u2019t have them back just yet, would you be calling for a cease-fire or would you be engaging in the kinds of activities that could help you recover your loved ones?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall rejected the idea of conditioning or placing other restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, and added in a position paper shared with JI<\/a> that he supports legislation to expand U.S.-Israel defense collaboration programs in emerging technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why we have so many members of Congress who don\u2019t understand why it is important for us to support Israel, or even candidates in my race [who] may hold those same notions,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He said that he supports aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and an eventual two-state solution, but emphasized that there is no path forward for the Palestinians without eliminating terrorist groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIran is one of the greatest threats to peace and humanity in every corner of the globe. And I won\u2019t stand for a nuclear-armed Iran,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m going to stand with the people of Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he supports stronger sanctions and other measures to claw back funding to and increase monitoring of Iran to combat its nuclear program. In his position paper, Marshall said he\u2019d specifically support new sanctions to stop Iran\u2019s oil exports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said in the paper any potential nuclear deal must permanently cut off Iran\u2019s path to a nuclear weapon; suspend enrichment and reprocessing; end support for terrorist groups; and allow broad leeway for international inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to JI the day after the administration\u2019s first strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, Marshall said he supported those strikes \u2014 which some lawmakers have characterized as unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both candidates traveled to Israel with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation \u2014 Conyears-Ervin in 2023 and Marshall in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conyears-Ervin described the trip as \u201coverwhelming,\u201d and said it gave her a new understanding of the \u201ctrauma\u201d and danger that Israeli families experienced on a daily basis, even before Oct. 7. The trip included a visit to one of the kibbutzim on the Gaza border that was attacked on Oct. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the trip helped her draw connections between the Jewish and Israeli and Black American experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo child should have to grow up and know where the closest bomb shelter is,\u201d she said. \u201cNo child on the West and South Sides of Chicago should experience gun violence. We don\u2019t understand how these communities relate, and they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that a visit to a resilience center in Israel, aimed at supporting families who have experienced trauma, had inspired plans to pursue a similar concept in her own district, to help support her community in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall said that visiting Israel was a deeply spiritual experience for him as a Christian, which brought him nearly to tears, and helped him connect with both his religion and his grandmother, who had taught him about the holy land as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really a spiritual awakening for me,\u201d Marshall said, adding that he felt divine inspiration during the trip to create a mentorship program for young Black men in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conyears-Ervin said that the experiences of Jewish Americans facing rising antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack \u201creally [break] my heart,\u201d explaining that she \u201cknows what it means to be mistreated, simply because of the color of my skin, simply because of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Jewish community, the African American community \u2014 we understand one another,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall said he\u2019d support security grant funding to protect synagogues and other religious institutions. And he also stressed the importance of bringing together the Black and Jewish communities, invoking the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only way\u201d to transform the district, Marshall said, \u201cis to make sure that I am advocating for equality and not [be] silent when it comes to antisemitism, because to be silent is to be just as, oftentimes, guilty as the [perpetrators] are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marc Rod, Jewish Insider Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), the longtime Chicago congressman who has had a rocky relationship with the Chicago Jewish community over his stances on Israel, faces a new wrinkle in his bid for reelection \u2014 a broader field of challengers that could upend the dynamics of the March 19 Democratic primary. Progressive Kina… more JEWISH INSIDER: Rep. Danny Davis faces fractured primary field<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3372,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3371","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nJEWISH INSIDER: Rep. 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