In trying to upend longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis in the 7th Congressional District’s Democratic primary, Melissa Conyears-Ervin is getting help from the pulpit as more than two dozen Black clergy leaders backed her candidacy Wednesday.
Conyears-Ervin — Chicago’s city treasurer and wife of West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th — is one of the leading contenders running against the 14-term Davis. She has sought to boost her bid with a number of endorsements, including the Chicago Teachers Union. She’s also had to deal with the fallout from allegations of unethical conduct in her administration from two former top aides that the Chicago Tribune first brought to light last fall.
On Wednesday, many of the ministers who assembled at the Greater Missionary Baptist Church on the South Side pushed past the allegations and said they were focused more on the future and what Conyears-Ervin offers as a new voice in Congress.
Among those backing Conyears-Ervin were several high-profile Black clergy members who are known to help candidates they support get out the vote. They included the Rev. Byron Brazier, head of the Apostolic Church of God where Barack Obama spoke during his successful run for president in 2008, and Bishop Larry Trotter of the Sweet Holy Spirit Church.
In a primary race where Democratic voters might not be as motivated to come to the polls because there isn’t a contested presidential election, Conyears-Ervin and many of the ministers in attendance urged their fellow clergy members to organize congregants to vote and also explain why they are backing the treasurer over Davis. Early and mail-in voting has already begun in the March 19 primary.
“Many people in our community do not vote in March,” Conyears-Ervin said. “Over the past 30 years, they haven’t had to. … But this time, 2024, we cannot wait until November, because Melissa must win.”
Other Chicago ministers endorsing Conyears-Ervin included the Revs. Mark Henton from Monument of Faith Church, T.D. Hughes from Third Baptist Church, Reginald Sharpe Jr. from Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Eric Thomas from Greater Harvest Baptist Church, Stephen Thurston Sr. and Stephen Thurston II from New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, and David Whittley of the Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ.
“I want you to know that your role is so important in the Black community,” Conyears-Ervin said. “The Black church can make a difference. And so I want you to know that over these next three weeks we do have some work to do, but we can do it.”
Conyears-Ervin said her active presence in the church community and previous policy achievements as a state representative built trust among the clergy members who endorsed her. She said issues she would tackle if elected include protecting the right to an abortion, combating climate change and decreasing health care costs.
“What I’m hearing when I talk to residents each and every day is that what matters to them is someone who’s going to go to (Washington) D.C. and fight for them as hard as they work each and every day,” she said.
First elected in 1996, Davis has held Illinois’ 7th District seat in Congress without much significant opposition. The heavily Democratic district extends from the western suburbs of Westchester, Bellwood and Oak Park through the West Side, east to Lake Michigan and south to include parts of the South Loop, Bridgeport and Englewood. Conyears-Ervin even endorsed Davis in the past.
Others opposing Davis in the Democratic primary include Kina Collins, who ran a tight race against him in 2022, Kouri Marshall and Nikhil Bhatia.
The endorsements for Conyears-Ervin come despite the 2020 accusations that as city treasurer she misused taxpayer resources and asked for personal favors from public officials.
Among the allegations from Conyears-Ervin’s former chief of staff, Tiffany Harper, and former chief impact officer, Ashley Evans, were that the treasurer used government workers to plan her daughter’s birthday party and attempted to force BMO Harris to issue a mortgage tied to the building that houses the aldermanic office for her husband.
“The four-year-old complaints do not only misrepresent the treasurer, but they also misrepresent me,” Conyears-Ervin said in a Tribune interview.
The Rev. Dr. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Holiness Baptist Church in Austin, acknowledged Conyears-Ervin has made “mistakes” in the past but said no candidate is perfect and that voters should focus on her vision and long-standing commitment to the community.
“We don’t want to get bogged down with an ethics issue that has already been dealt with and that is behind us,” Acree said. “That’s a ploy of the detractors and people on the other side to take the focus off of this district.”
The city’s Board of Ethics found probable cause in November that Conyears-Ervin violated the city’s ethics code when she fired the two whistleblowers who spoke out against her. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration used city funds to pay Harper and Evans a $100,000 settlement and fought for roughly two years to conceal the details of their complaint.
Acree said he has supported the 82-year-old Davis for decades but is backing Conyears-Ervin with hopes she will bring economic development and job growth to the district.
“The current person has been an elected official for so many years, and I have to ask myself, ‘Am I better off now than I was when he started?’” Acree asked. “If we were better off, I would say yes. Since I’m saying no, I think it’s time to give someone else a chance. And when I look at the other candidates, she rises to the top.”