Kina Collins hopes three is her magic number as she runs again to represent a U.S. congressional seat stretching through Chicago’s West Side that has been held by U.S. Rep, Danny Davis for over a quarter century.
Collins this week announced her third straight bid for the Democratic nomination in the overwhelmingly Democratic 7th Congressional District, arguing the progressive political organization she’s built and the connections she has with voters will finally carry her to victory.
“What’s going to be different this time is, we’re really going to put an emphasis on our base, to knock the doors and really get in front of voters,” Collins said. “That’s what worked last time.”
The dynamic will be different in the 2024 race for the district, which stretches from Hillside and Bellwood on the west, all the way through Chicago’s West Side to the downtown lakefront and also encompasses parts of the South Loop, Bridgeport and Englewood on the South Side.
Davis, who has represented the district since 1997, filed in February to seek a 15th term next year, and Chicago city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin announced in April that she was creating an exploratory committee, laying the groundwork for her own congressional campaign.
After Collins garnered only about 14% of the vote in the 2020 Democratic primary among four candidates, she tightened things up considerably in the 2022 rematch with Davis, receiving about 45.5% in a head-to-head matchup with the incumbent.
Collins said she isn’t bothered by Conyears-Ervin potentially throwing her hat in the ring.
“I think that, coming into this race, we’re the front-runner, even with an elected official, two elected officials, in the race,” she said.
“I think our base is unmovable. I think they’re going to stick with us,” Collins said.
Collins, 32, was endorsed in 2022 by several progressive groups, including Justice Democrats, a leading left-wing political action committee that backed U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in 2018. The Strokes played a campaign gig at the Metro to support Collins.
In 2022, Davis, now 81, leaned on his long congressional record, saying his veteran leadership made him the obvious choice.
Conyears-Ervin campaigned on Davis’ behalf in 2022. In announcing her exploratory committee, she was careful not to criticize Davis, saying he had served “ably.”
“After months of talking to voters throughout the district, the treasurer is incredibly encouraged by the response to her candidacy,” a Conyears-Ervin campaign spokesperson said. “She’s humbled at the support she’s received so far in this race and will make an official announcement this fall.”
Collins said she will continue to try to appeal to young, progressive voters. But she thinks others who were “on the fence” last time will swing her way in 2024 because they’ve gotten more familiar with her and seen how close she came to winning even though Democratic “heavy hitters” such as President Joe Biden, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot endorsed Davis in 2022.
“They know that we’re a scrappy campaign,” Collins said.
Kouri Marshalla former deputy director for Pritzker, has also filed with the Federal Election Commission to create a campaign committee to run for the congressional seat.
