Chicago Sun-Times

Front-runner in AG race, Kwame Raoul, picks up another key endorsement.

By Stefano Esposito

State Sen. Kwame Raoul — the perceived front-runner in the Democratic race for attorney general — picked up a key endorsement Monday from the Chicago Teachers Union.

“Our members really are looking for a candidate who is committed to the greater public good and who shows that with action, not just with words,” said CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey, speaking to reporters at the agency’s headquarters in the West Town neighborhood Monday morning.

Earlier this month, Raoul received the powerful endorsement of the AFL-CIO.

Sharkey praised Raoul for, among other things, fighting in the general assembly for an elected school board for Chicago.

“We are going to count on Kwame to put the people’s business first and the people’s needs front and center as the attorney general,” Sharkey said.

Speaking about his ongoing push for an elected school board, Raoul said, “Democracy should not exist in every other school district and not in the city of Chicago.”

And he described Chicago Public Schools’ decision to close a record 50 neighborhood elementary schools in 2013 as “racist.”

“It’s purely discriminatory and racist to close downs schools in communities of color,” he said.

Raoul has raised by far the most money so far in the race of attorney general, with a war chest of about $1.4 million, according to data from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. Raoul’s closest competitor, State Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, has raised $887,000. Former Gov. Pat Quinn, the candidate with arguably the most name recognition, has raised $415,000.