SEIU endorses Anthony Driver Jr. in 7th Congressional District race

Anthony Driver Jr., a community organizer and head of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, has garnered the support of a powerful union in the 7th Congressional District race, his campaign announced Saturday.

The Illinois branch of the Service Employees International Union endorsed Driver in his run for the 7th Congressional District seat. The district encompasses Chicago’s West Side, and stretches from west suburban Hillside into the Loop and down to the South Side. SEIU Illinois represents more than 150,000 janitors, healthcare, childcare and other public employees.

Driver is currently the executive director of the SEIU Illinois State Council.

"Anthony is exactly the kind of leader we need to navigate us through the tumult and upheaval of the present moment and into the future that working people deserve," Greg Kelley, president of the SEIU Illinois State Council and of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, said in a news release from Driver's campaign. "To do that is going to take a lot of integrity — and a real commitment to representing our communities and the people who do the work that keeps us all going. Fortunately, Anthony has those two qualities in abundance — integrity and a real love for serving the people."

The 7th Congressional District seat is currently held by Rep. Danny K. Davis, 84, a Democrat who has been in office since 1997 and announced plans to retire this year. Davis endorsed state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, who has served in the Illinois General Assembly since 2007. Also running are City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin; former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin; former U.S. Marine John McCombs; businessman Jason Friedman; pastor Je’Rico Brown; Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins; Kamaria Kali; and Danica Leigh.