Meeks Shrugs Off Snub By Black Business Leaders
CHICAGO (CBS) -- State Sen. James Meeks shrugged off a decision by a coalition of African American business leaders to choose two other mayoral candidates as finalists for the group's "consensus candidate" for mayor.
After a protracted search for a black candidate to succeed Mayor Richard M. Daley, The Chicago Coalition for Mayor snubbed Meeks in favor of
former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers.
Meeks' communications director Brian Zises sloughed off the insult.
"We're not too concerned. It doesn't come as a surprise. We don't know who that coalition is speaking for," Zises said.
While greeting commuters at the 95th Street CTA Red Line station, Meeks – pastor of the 20,000-member Salem Baptist Church – said the Chicago Coalition for Mayor is just one of many groups deciding which candidate to endorse.
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"There's a business coalition, there's a coalition of ministers, there's a coalition of Chinese, there's a coalition of Jewish," Meeks said. "So that's one coalition citywide. I want to represent all the city of Chicago, not just a black candidate or a black coalition. I want to represent all of Chicago."
As for decisions by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. not to enter the race, Meeks said he hopes their supporters back him instead.
While he's campaigning for mayor already, Meeks said you won't see any campaign commercials anytime soon, saying he thinks voters are "commercialed out" from the ads for the Nov. 2 election.
"Oh my God, yes; so many. And it's so many negative and it's so many vicious commercials," Meeks said, pledging to run a positive campaign.
The Chicago Coalition for Mayor announced its decision Thursday afternoon, after what it described as a "heated and passionate debate" on Wednesday.
"The room was filled with emotion. The discussion lasted several hours," the coalition said in a statement on Friday. "Finally, the Chicago Coalition for Mayor, by a majority vote, accepted the Selection Committee's recommendation of … Carol Moseley Braun and … Larry Rogers as the final two 2011 consensus candidates for Mayor of the City of Chicago."
But Meeks has previously indicated that he plans to run for mayor regardless of who the coalition picks as its "consensus candidate."
Meeks has been putting together a campaign team, including Zizes as his communications director. Zises worked on State Rep. Art Turner's unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor.
Also joining the campaign are media consultant Brian Boyer, who worked for Mayor Harold Washington, and press secretary Tasha Harris, who is stepping down as communications director at Meeks' Salem Baptist Church.
Rogers could not be reached for comment. Braun praised the Chicago Coalition for Mayor, which now plans to meet with the two finalists.
"The time and effort put into the selection process by so many people is a powerful testament to our nation's democratic process," she said.
"My long record of public service … was vetted and tested during this process. The polling numbers show that the people of Chicago recognize my qualifications and years of dedicated public service."
Last month, Meeks told the Chicago Sun-Times that he would not give up his ministry of a massive South Side church if he's elected mayor and that his position was "non-negotiable."
That led several black elected officials to virtually rule him out as the consensus black candidate to succeed Mayor Daley.
But Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) said she did not believe concerns about the separation of church and state were the deciding factor.
In fact, Austin said Meeks softened his earlier stand during closed-door meetings with the group.
"He [initially] said it was non-negotiable. But, in actuality, yes it is negotiable. He made the statement that he misspoke," Austin said.
"He said he will put somebody in charge of his church [so] he could run the government. … He said he would preach on Sundays on the days that he can. That was good enough for me."
In addition to his formidable church base, Meeks has crossover appeal to conservatives as a champion of school vouchers who has opposed abortion and gay rights — both from the pulpit and in the General Assembly.
Those same positions have cost Meeks support among lakefront liberals and teachers unions and might have cost him with the Coalition as well, according to Austin.
Sources said a recent poll conducted for black business leaders showed former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in the mid-20s; Sheriff Tom Dart, who dropped out this week, at roughly 12 percent; Braun at 11 percent and Meeks at 5 percent. Braun had more votes than all of the other black candidates combined, sources said.
Austin said she's frustrated that the protracted selection process has not yet come to a head.
But, she said, "There are groups in the African-American community that would not even speak to each other ever. They're speaking to each other now. We're coalescing together now. That, in itself, is history."
