Sandi Jackson - 2007 Election - Campaign

Campaign

In 2006, William Beavers announced that he would resign his 7th ward aldermanic seat to pursue the Cook County Board seat being vacated by John Stroger, after Stroger was forced to resign following a stroke. Beavers requested that Mayor Daley appoint his daughter to replace him, in order for her to have the incumbency advantage in the February 27, 2007 municipal elections. The deal also allowed for Todd Stroger to replace his father John as the president of the County Board and Beavers to surrender his ward seat after presiding over Mayor Daley's 2007 City Council budget hearings. In July 2007, when it first became public that Sandi Jackson was considering running for the 7th ward alderman seat, which would disrupt all the backroom dealings between the Strogers and the Beavers with Daley's approval, Jackson, Jr. encouraged her to run. In the November 2006 elections, William Beavers won the County Board seat while Stroger won the County Board President's office that had been part of the dealings. On December 5, 2006, Jackson officially filed paperwork with state election officials. On December 12, Mayor Daley appointed Darcel Beavers to succeed her father until the Spring municipal elections. Then, on December 18, which is the filing deadline for petitions, Jackson filed 5000 petition signatures to run for alderman. Jackson carried numerous endorsements including The Chicago Tribune and numerous labor unions. Jackson was not endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party.

The Jackson family (Sandi, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.) have occasionally not seen eye to eye with Mayor Daley. In fact, Congressman Jackson was considering contesting Daley for Mayor until the Democratic Party success in the 2006 fall elections made it clear he could be very productive by remaining in Congress because of his party's majority. Sandi Jackson, who is credited with encouraging Jackson, Jr. to run for Congress, had been supportive of the idea of him running for mayor. William Beavers had been a longtime Daley ally. However, Jackson says she has good relations with the Daleys, especially Bill Daley.

Jackson took leave from her position as deputy political director of training for the Democratic National Committee to run and her husband bought up the billboards in the ward to post an image of the couple. Jackson, Jr. had acquired the rights to 1800 billboards in the city in preparation for his own possible mayoral candidacy. He relinquished the rights to all but those useful to his wife in her ward and a few candidates that he endorsed. Jackson, Jr. invested US$200,000 in his wife's campaign to pay for billboards, mailers, phone banks, a campaign manager and other professional staffers. William Beavers was unimpressed with the spending and had his employees remind voters that Jackson did not live in the Ward and his daughter did. William Beavers attempted to make Jackson's Washington residence an issue, and there was mudslinging in the public press between the Beavers and the Jacksons. Jackson campaigned for the 7th ward alderman position based on the issues of economy, education, and public safety. She also described the lakefront ward as prime commercial real estate ripe for development.