Chicago-area residents worry about how a new candidate will address immigration, Gaza, environment
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President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to withdraw his candidacy from the presidential race after months of pressure from fellow Democrats comes as Chicago ramps up preparations for the Democratic National Convention amid a variety of concerns from residents.
Mark Sanes, 23, from Englewood, has been drumming buckets in front of the Art Institute since he was 13. He said he was shocked — but not surprised — when he heard the news during a break from his drumming Sunday afternoon.
“Where I’m from, it didn’t affect us,” he said. “Nothing changed (under Donald Trump or Biden).”
Local activists and organizers also say any shifts by the Democratic Party won’t alter their plans; their approach will remain assertive as they push the establishment to support their causes, including immigration reform, peace in Palestine and environmental justice.
“We plan to still march on the DNC,” said Faayani Aboma Mijana, an organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, part of a larger coalition planning to rally ahead of and during the convention next month. “That’s because it’s not about Biden as an individual, it’s about the party’s leadership and how they are the ones who are ultimately pushing to support Israel, and they’re the ones who are funding and aiding the genocide in Palestine.”
The March On DNC coalition represents a protest against both parties, which Aboma Mijana called “rotten options.” The coalition’s main organizing principles include solidarity with Palestine and ending U.S. aid to Israel after the latter launched its bombardment of Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, where the group killed some 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Since then, more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Kristian Armendariz, a young activist from Little Village, said the DNC has highlighted longstanding issues within Chicago that must be faced.
“I know a lot of my neighbors and colleagues were not so happy that the Democratic National Convention was coming to Chicago,” he said.
Armendariz said many Chicagoans are more concerned about local issues than supporting or caring about hosting a convention in the city. These include the scramble by local authorities to provide shelter for the thousands of immigrants who have been bused from the U.S.-Mexico border, the unhoused population in the city even as a homeless encampment was torn down by city workers in preparation for the DNC earlier this week, and violent crime.
“How are we supposed to guarantee all these tourists, all these politicians (will be safe) in our city, if we can’t even keep our own city, our own neighborhoods, safe?” he mused.
Ultimately, Armendariz is glad Biden dropped out and said he’s sure other Chicagoans feel similarly.
David Vasquez, 60, a resident from Des Plaines who was locking his bike up to a rack outside Millennium Park, said he regretted voting for Trump in 2016, so he voted for Biden in 2020. He was planning to do so again this year until last month’s presidential debate when concerns about the president’s age and health made him consider not going to the polls.
On Sunday, he felt relieved that Biden had dropped out and said he would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris if she is chosen as the Democratic nominee. Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday.
“At this point, if she’s the only one other than Trump, I’ll vote for her,” he said. “I definitely don’t want to vote for Trump again.” But she’s not his first pick; rather, he’d like to see Hillary Clinton run again — and thinks she might be able to beat Trump this time.
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, said he hopes a Harris candidacy and presidency could propel the country into becoming a global leader in climate policy.
“But, you know, money talks, so that’s the concerning part. … And politicians are always up for sale,” Enriquez said, adding that lobbyists for industries like fossil fuels “know how to bring them to their side.”
He said he hopes whoever wins the Democratic candidacy — and possibly the presidency — will hold companies and corporations responsible for environmental pollution in communities of color like Little Village. He referenced the need for stronger consequences for the company behind a botched demolition of a former coal plant that covered the neighborhood in dust four years ago. Northbrook-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners settled earlier this year to pay $12.25 million to residents whose health and property was affected.
“There are laws out there, but nobody’s really holding them accountable, and the EPA doesn’t have a lot of teeth,” Enriquez said. “We want to make sure that they get prosecuted if they’re dumping chemicals in our water, they get prosecuted if they’re dumping stuff in our air. … They kill people. They kill people in our neighborhood. They got people sick, (but) they didn’t get held accountable. So we hope that Vice President Harris holds them accountable, makes policies and enforces them.”
Environmental activists hope Harris will continue upholding the Biden administration’s climate policies and goals, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which has been called the largest climate legislation in American history, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2030.
Wearing a USA T-shirt, 76-year-old Susan Radtke was at the top of Willis Tower with her 8-year-old grandson, his friend and her husband when she found out Biden had withdrawn from the race Sunday.
“We think it’s very good for the party,” said the Burr Ridge resident and lifelong Democrat. “We’re very proud of what Biden has accomplished, but at this point, I don’t think we’d have a chance to win with him in the race. We were very afraid.”
Harris, however, would not be her first choice as the Democratic nominee. The vice president, Radtke said, is “widely unpopular.” Radtke said she started disliking Harris after she sharply criticized Biden for his race and school busing policies during a 2020 presidential primary debate.
Radtke hopes former first lady Michelle Obama will step up and win the Democratic nomination but believes the chances of that are slim. Ultimately, she said she’ll support any Democratic candidate running against Trump — including Harris.
