Just a month into office and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is on the move again — this time she’s traveling to New York City for what will be a mix of city business and politics, similar to an early June trip to Southern California. On the agenda: making opening remarks at the Democratic National Committee’s LGBTQ Gala, a fundraiser that draws high-profile politicos from across the United States; an interview with late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert; and separate meetings with current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Her political campaign says she needs to travel not only to meet national leaders in the Democratic Party and promote Chicago, but also, in part, to dispel Republican President Donald Trump’s and others’ “false narratives” about the city. A reminder that the president has been known to take to Twitter and suggest Chicago’s a shooting gallery.
And one member of the Pritzker family is tightening her GOP purse strings, angered over Trump’s transgender military restrictions, Vanity Fair reports.
Welcome to The Spin.
Lightfoot heads east
Upon learning Mayor Lightfoot is traveling to New York City and taking the stage at a big DNC fundraiser, I asked her political campaign whether her growing national profile means she’s eyeing higher office.
In a statement, Lightfoot’s campaign spokesman Dave Mellet wrote: “The mayor is very focused on her priorities: investment and opportunity for every neighborhood, addressing violence, and accountability and transparency in government. Connecting with national leaders and promoting the city of Chicago are important parts of the job. She will occasionally take the time to travel and promote our city to dispel the false narratives about Chicago created by politicians like Donald Trump in the national news.”
Trip details: The mayor leaves Sunday and on Monday night will give remarks at the DNC’s annual LGBTQ Gala, where she’ll be rubbing shoulders with high-powered politicos and deep-pocketed donors. During her three-day stay, she’ll also meet with the current and former mayors of New York City and do a taping of CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The well-known host and comedian is a Northwestern University and Second City alum. She’ll be back to work in Chicago on Wednesday, a day before the show is set to air Thursday night, her staff says. Read about the trip here.
Lightfoot’s campaign advice: Steve Bullock, Montana’s governor and a Democratic presidential hopeful, was in town this week, getting the word out about his campaign after a bit of a setback. He’s being excluded from the first round of debates because of low polling numbers and fundraising. On Thursday, Lightfoot, addressing no one in particular, took to Twitter with some advice from “my experience” playbook: “Several months ago, I was cut from a debate of the ‘frontrunner’ candidates and public polls had me at 3%. Today I am Mayor of Chicago. To all the Democrats running for president, I say this: If you are running for the right reasons, never stop fighting.”
Amy Eshleman to work as a volunteer in the administration of her wife, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reports that Chicago’s first lady “will take a volunteer role in the administration of her wife, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, working on out-of-school educational programs for youths from an office at the Chicago Cultural Center, the mayor’s office announced Thursday.”
Her background: “Eshleman previously worked for the city and the Chicago Public Library for nearly 20 years, the administration said. She is a former CPL assistant commissioner. Eshleman worked there from 1994 to 2012, the entirety of former Commissioner Mary Dempsey’s tenure.” Read Pratt’s full story here.
Her work has echoes of former Chicago first lady Maggie Daley, who died in 2011, but was, as the Tribune’s Rick Kogan noted in a story months before her death, a driving force “behind the Gallery 37 arts program. It began in 1991 and for more than a decade nurtured thousands of children and employed hundreds of artists. It became a model for programs in London, Australia and many U.S. cities. In 2000, it morphed into After School Matters and remains a vital organization.” You can read that story here.
The Sun-Times first reported Eshleman’s new position.
Rare dust-up over judicial appointment pits state Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke vs. African American leaders
Talk about judicial appointments and retention at a cocktail party in these parts, and you’ll have people running for the kale dip. But on Friday, African American pastors and West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, lead a downtown protest over Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke’s successful nomination of Cara Smith, who is white, to replace a retiring African American judge; she’ll take the bench on Monday. The Tribune’s Juan Perez Jr. was the first to report the appointment last week. You can read that story here.
The background: Some years ago, the legislature carved Cook County into 15 zones known as subcircuits, and judges would be tapped to represent those zones. The aim, officials said, was to create more diversity on the bench. The geography of the seventh subcircuit largely encompasses the West Side of Chicago, which has a large African American population, along with some of the western suburbs.
The politics: Ervin told The Spin he pitched former state Rep. Pamela Reaves-Harris, who is African American, as a replacement. Reaves-Harris, it should be noted, represented the 10th House District but decided against running again in 2016. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who is married to the alderman, ran for Reaves-Harris’ seat and won.
Justice Burke’s response: In a rare move, Burke, who is married to indicted Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, issued a statement on Thursday afternoon — and an amended statement on Friday — about the selection process, noting the meeting with Ervin, how she told him to have Reaves-Harris apply and that Reaves-Harris eventually put her hat in the ring. But a Chicago Bar Association judicial evaluation committee “found Ms. Reaves-Harris to be ‘Not Recommended’ for the office of Circuit Court Judge and stated, in part, that while Ms. Harris was ‘a dedicated, busy and hardworking public servant,’ her ‘limited practice and court experience would make it difficult for her to effectively serve as a Circuit Court Judge.’”
The case for Smith: “Cara LeFevour Smith was found ‘Qualified’ by the Chicago Bar Association.” Read Burke’s full statement here.
How it works: Burke points out that while she nominated Smith, six state Supreme Court justices in all voted to officially appoint her.
Ervin, Part II: “They’re questioning Pamela Reaves Harris’ trial experience, but what about Smith? She’s been in the sheriff’s office for 8 years and the AGs office before that? What’s her trial experience?”
Read more at chicagotribune.com.
Jennifer Pritzker abandoning Trump?
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s cousin Jennifer Pritzker, a well-known Republican donor, said she’s closing her pocketbook when it comes to President Trump, according to a new story in Vanity Fair.
After coming out as transgender, the retired Army lieutenant colonel who lives in the Chicago area tells the magazine she’s backing away from the president. That’s because of the president’s comments and policy restricting transgender military service. You can read the Vanity Fair story here.
Sunday Spin
Sunday Spin: Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson’s guests on his Sunday politics radio show are Andrea Durbin, CEO of Illinois Collaboration on Youth, discussing child services; John Byrne, Tribune City Hall reporter, talking about Mayor Lightfoot and City Council; and Bob Secter, ex-Chicago Tribune and now a senior editor at the Better Government Association. The “Sunday Spin” airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN-AM 720.
There’s a giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — thanks in large part to pollution from Chicago. Read Tony Briscoe’s piece in the Tribune here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan