TGIF, Illinois. I guess it’s time to take down the tree.
TOP TALKER
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., left, and former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. | AP photos
HISTORY LESSON: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will headline this morning’s MLK Interfaith Breakfast, also known as the mayor’s King Day Breakfast, an event with a storied past.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent time in Chicago. He will always be a West Sider. He was here enforcing our collective efforts for fair housing, education, access to public accommodations,” Johnson said in an interview with Playbook, noting it was Albert Raby, a social studies teacher, who invited King to Chicago.
Johnson, like Raby, was a former social studies teacher. And Raby was campaign manager for Mayor Harold Washington, so the story comes full circle.
It was Washington who first held a mayor’s King Day breakfast, though it didn’t become an annual tradition until Mayor Richard M. Daley was in office.
That’s where the story gets interesting: Daley had attended the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s Rainbow PUSH’s annual King Day Breakfast -- which this year is Monday -- and he saw that the event drew a crowd of Black ministers.
It was the 1990s, and Daley wanted to gain the support of Black voters, many of whom were still sore about the 1989 special election that saw him defeat then-Mayor Eugene Sawyer and then-Ald. Tim Evans of the Harold Washington Party, both African Americans, in the runoff and final elections.
Daley started his own MLK event, holding it a few days before Rainbow PUSH’s annual gathering so pastors could attend both.
“He was just trying to reach out. He wanted to show that he wasn't just going to have St. Patrick’s Day parties,” said his brother, Bill Daley, a former Commerce secretary and White House chief of staff.
Others saw it as a political play to win over Black voters, said Democratic strategist Delmarie Cobb. “At first, a lot of Black ministers boycotted it because they knew what he was doing and they objected to him having it. Some tried blocking other ministers from going,” Cobb said.
Eventually, though, the event became an annual affair, and Daley would win over Black voters just as he had done with Latino voters with help of the Hispanic Democratic Organization.
“Everyone wanted to be there,” recalled Bill Daley, ticking off ministers and then political and business leaders who would join the breakfast.
Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Ligfhtfoot continued the breakfast tradition, and Johnson is now part of the history, too.
“It's Chicago. So, you know, most decisions that are made are made through a political lens,” Johnson said of how Daley started the event.
Also taking the stage this morning with Johnson will be Michael Eric Dyson, author of “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America,” and musician Jonathan McReynolds, a Chicago native.
Here are 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day events: On Monday, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition MLK Day of Service and Learning is hosted by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and the Jackson family, by the Block Club Chicago’s Maia McDonald.
Michael Madigan defense rests its case as landmark corruption trial winds toward an end: “Closing statements are expected to begin next Wednesday, followed by jury deliberations the following week. Madigan, who is charged alongside his longtime right-hand man Michael McClain, is alleged to have orchestrated multiple corruption schemes, wielding his political power to reward loyal allies and enrich himself,” by WTTW’s Matt Masterson.
If you are Richard M. Daley, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@politico.com
WHERE'S JB
At Am Shalom in Glencoe at 6:30 p.m. to deliver remarks.
WHERE's BRANDON
At the Marriott Marquis at 8:30 a.m. for the MLK Interfaith Breakfast
Where's Toni
No official public events
Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a complaint? Email skapos@politico.com
SPOTTED
— Mayor Brandon Johnson hosted a post-holiday party for the Chicago legislative delegation, an important move as he makes plans to court lawmakers in Springfield. The event was held at Selva in the swanky Emily Hotel on Morgan Street. In the room: State Reps. Will Guzzardi, Omar Williams, Kelly Cassidy, Lilian Jiménez, Lindsey LaPointe, Kevin Olickal, Abdelnasser Rashid, Omar Aquino, Kim Du Buclet and Rob Martwick; Vice Mayor Walter Burnett Jr., County Commissioners Donna Miller, Tara Stamps and Bill Lowry; and water board Commissioners Kari Steele and Precious Brady-Davis.
THE STATEWIDES
— Speaker Welch expects Chicago to be on Trump's 'dart board': “We did a lot of the hard work the first time. … We took him at his word the first time when he said he would overturn Roe v. Wade and turn the powers of state government against immigrant communities,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.
— Chicago seeks authorization to sell up to $830M in bonds: “The bond authorization needs city council approval and follows S&P lowering Chicago’s credit grade by one notch due to a ‘sizable structural budgetary imbalance,’” by Bloomberg’s Shruti Date Singh.
— Clayco, the Chicago-area construction company started by Bob Clark, is planting a pole in the data center industry it expands in Illinois. The company has launched Clayco Compute, “an integrated data center delivery business unit” focused specifically on building advanced technology centers. Ryan McGuire will serve as president of Clayco Compute.
From Crain’s John Pletz: The company says revenue from data center projects more than doubled last year to $3.6 billion and accounts for half its overall revenue.
— BUSINESS OF POLITICS: Dominik Bronakowski has been endorsed for Des Plaines city clerk by state Sen. Laura Murphy, former Des Plaines Mayor and current state Rep. Marty Moylan and Des Plaines Mayor Andrew Goczkowski.
— Former Gov. Pat Quinn will keynote the League of Women Voters of Illinois 2025 Issues Briefing on Feb. 8. Details here
— David Ramos and Carole Wood are new trustees on the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs board. In their day jobs, Ramos is deputy director for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, and Wood is the president and CEO of Northwestern University Settlement House.
Reader Digest
We asked how you volunteer.
Leslie Dimas: “I volunteer at the Equality Illinois gala helping with logistics and government relations.”
Donna Gutman: “Doing toy drives, soup kitchens and blood banks.”
Brian Bernardoni: “Serving on the volunteer boards of the Fire Protection District and the Salvation Army.”
Lucas Hawley: “Serving on my village's Sister City Commission..
Ed Mazur: “I volunteer with youth oriented groups, showing young people neighborhoods of Chicago they might not be aware of.”
Mary Riseling: “At a local no-kill animal shelter and spending a week each month in southern Illinois where I help out and sit on the board of a 501(c)3 historical society. In between, I volunteer for the Central Illinois Food Bank. I never knew retirement could be so busy and so satisfying.”
Andy Shaw: “Serving on government reform and journalism start-up boards, and to help friends with job searches.”
Timothy Thomas: “Serving on not for profit boards and as a block club officer, youth mentor and C.A.P.S. policing representative.”
Next question: What will you be watching for at the inauguration? Email skapos@politico.com
DELEGATION
— Congressman Ray LaHood is reintroducing the “No Gotion Act” in response to Gotion Inc., an American subsidiary of a Chinese-based company, planning to build EV battery materials factories near Manteno, qualifying it for tax credit.
— Oren Jacobson is stepping down as head of Men4Choice. He will pivot to be a senior adviser and remains as vice chair of the charitable arm of the group.
— Dr. Virgil Reid will serve as the interim chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Illinois starting Feb. 1, taking over for Dr. Amy Whitaker who is stepping back to do more patient care. Reid is currently an associate medical director and previously served as medical director for the organization.
TRIVIA
THURSDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Ashvin Lad for correctly answering that Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan all have expressways/toll roads named after them in Illinois. There’s also the Barack Obama Presidential Expressway, which is a section of Interstate 55.
TODAY’s QUESTION: Along with President Ulysses S. Grant, who spoke at the ceremony dedicating Abraham Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield in 1874? Email skapos@politico.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Today: Former first lady Michelle Obama, Cook County Judge Abbey Fishman Romanek, Mason County Democrat Jay Briney, comms consultant Kelley Quinn, Talman Consultants marketing director Liane Adduci and Edelman Executive VP Katherine Wiet.
Saturday: Wheeling Trustee Joe Vito, attorney Frank Avila Jr., government affairs exec Joe Fawell, Ceres Partners VP of Business Development Edward Corrigan, Evolve Giving Group Senior Associate Consultant Talia Alter, comms consultant Carolyn Grisko and TV producer Andrea Dres.
Sunday: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Cook County Dems Executive Director Jacob Kaplan, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz, policy analyst Adam Sege, retired legal secretary Linda Morris and AIPAC Midwest Regional Deputy Director Emily Berman Pevnick.
