chicagotribune--2020-11-03--Voters in line at suburban Cook County polls told to go home at 7 p.m. cutoff

“ The Cook County Election Judge Manual itself states that anyone in line when early voting ends for the day @ @ @ @ @ their ballot and must be allowed to vote , '' Ami Gandhi , the senior @ @ @ @ @ ' Committee for Civil Rights , said in a statement.
`` But tonight , voters @ @ @ @ @ waited for hours to cast their ballots , only to be turned away without explanation @ @ @ @ @ disenfranchised Cook County voters .
”

Poll workers at some Cook County early voting sites sent home voters who were still in line about 7 p.m. Monday, but officials said Tuesday that election judges made that decision because not everyone was social distancing and preparations needed to get underway for Election Day.
Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s office, said voters in line at eight to 10 polling locations were waiting but could not cast their ballots. Anyone who was inside the facility at 7 p.m. was allowed to vote, Daly said, but others were sent away.
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Election judges at the county’s 53 early voting sites planned to close at 7 p.m. to prepare for Election Day, which means reprogramming equipment, cleaning and stocking up on PPE, Daly said. She said voters who are still in line at 7 p.m. on Tuesday will be allowed to vote, unlike what happened at some locations Monday.
At least one attorney’s group challenged what happened, implying the decision could have contributed to voter suppression.
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“The Cook County election judge manual itself states that anyone in line when early voting ends for the day has the right to cast their ballot and must be allowed to vote," Ami Gandhi, senior counsel for the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, said in a statement. " But tonight, voters came out in the cold and waited for hours to cast their ballots, only to be turned away without explanation. That needless barrier undoubtedly disenfranchised Cook County voters.”
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Edmund Michalowski, Cook County’s deputy clerk of elections, said in a media call Tuesday that his office did not intend to infringe on anyone’s rights. He said some of the county’s early voting sites stayed open until 10 p.m. so everyone who had been in line could vote.
But at certain sites, he said, “the judges felt threatened, and they felt very uncomfortable because people were crowding and they weren’t practicing social distancing.”
Michalowski said his office contacted “several dozen” voters Tuesday morning who had been referred by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and felt they had been turned away. Michalowski said his office inquired what it could do to help those voters participate Tuesday but said he decided not to reopen the polls Monday night after the incidents were reported.
“As an election authority, we can’t open up a polling place for a particular group of voters over another group of voters,” he said. “We have to be fair and impartial, but we also have to be caring and I think that’s what our goal was.”
On Tuesday, Gandhi, of the Chicago Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights, said her concerns remained.
The organization received about 70 calls from affected voters, she said. Volunteers answering phone calls and monitoring these reports Monday night estimated that “hundreds” of voters could have been turned away too early.
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The issue was relayed from numerous early voting locations, and multiple voters called to say there were lines of up to 100 people or that would take hours to get through, she said.
“The reason that we were concerned about this is because of the widespread nature of the problem and the fact that it seems a large number of voters were affected,” Gandhi said. “We don’t know sitting here today whether all the voters who were unfairly turned away were indeed able to vote."
In addition to local polling places, the county will have seven supersites available on Election Day, Daly said. Those locations include the five suburban courthouses in Cook County — Markham, Rolling Meadows, Bridgeview, Maywood, Skokie, as well as Union Station in Chicago and a location at 69 W. Washington St.
Any voters with a mail-in ballot must also bring it to a supersite location, Daly said.
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chicagotribune--2020-11-03--Park Ridge restaurants fined for defying Gov. Pritzker’s order and continuing indoor dining as COVID

Park Ridge restaurants fined for defying Gov. Pritzker’s order and continuing indoor dining as COVID-19 cases rise

Mayor Maloney also objected to comments he had received from citizens accusing the city of being “ unfriendly ” to @ @ @ @ @ that the City Council and staff had made it possible for restaurants to expand outdoor @ @ @ @ @ Street , and had initiated other assistance as well , like offering 2.5-month credits for @ @ @ @ @

Patrons dine indoors at Pazzi Di Pizza on Oct. 29 in Park Ridge. Five Park Ridge restaurant owners, including Pazzi Di Pizza, filed a lawsuit last week against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, objecting to the governor's latest order shutting down indoor dining at bars and restaurants. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Park Ridge restaurants that defy the governor’s indoor dining ban and continue to serve customers inside are being fined daily, a city official said.
Between Thursday and Sunday, the city issued three restaurants a total of $1,750 in fines for continued non-compliance with the governor’s order, said Jim Brown, director of community preservation and development.
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The restaurants were fined $250 for the first violation and $500 for subsequent violations, Brown said.
Daily fines of $500 “will continue as long as they remain open,” the director said, adding that the city is also exploring other options, such reporting the establishments to the county and state health departments or recommending a suspension of their liquor licenses.
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“No one is happy about enforcing this,” Mayor Marty Maloney said during a virtual meeting of the Park Ridge City Council Monday. “We’re all in this situation, playing the hand we’re dealt.”
No restaurants were ordered to close by the city after owners or managers were informed they were being cited, Brown said. The restaurants can request an adjudication hearing before an independent hearing officer to contest the tickets, he said.
As of Monday, city staff learned that two of the restaurants fined for non-compliance had reverted to all outdoor dining and one was closed, Brown said.
Owners of Pazzi Di Pizza, Pennyville Station and Shakou shared statements on their websites and social media accounts last week that they would remain open to diners despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order that restaurants end indoor dining on Oct. 28 due to soaring rates of COVID-19.
The restaurants were among seven that were named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Pritzker, arguing he did not have the authority to force their closure.
A Cook County Circuit Court judge on Friday ruled against the restaurants, upholding the governor’s order.
“It was definitely a letdown,” Tony Antonacci, owner of Pennyville and Taco Melly, told the Chicago Tribune following the court’s decision. “It’s absolutely terrible.”
Antonacci said carryout and curbside service just isn’t profitable. Between the two restaurants, Antonacci said he has close to 70 employees whose livelihoods depend on the business.
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“I’m not sure what to tell these guys; there’s no end in sight,” he said. “I feel restaurants in general have lost trust in our government.”
On Monday, Pennyville Station announced on its Facebook page that it will close for indoor dining.
Other restaurants in the lawsuit included Hay Caramba, Holt’s, and the Harp and Fiddle in Park Ridge. Though Neoteca Pizza and Wine Bar in Barrington was also listed, owner Guy Sorrentino said that was inaccurate and the restaurant is not part of the lawsuit.
Prior to issuing fines for noncompliance with the governor’s order, the city of Park Ridge gave restaurants written warnings, Brown said. A total of eight restaurants were warned, with four of them found in compliance during a subsequent visit by city health department staff, he said.
During Monday’s Park Ridge City Council meeting, elected officials stressed that the fines were not being issued as a way to generate revenue for the city.
“I want to avoid the perspective of the public that we are doing this to make money," said 5th Ward Ald. Charlie Melidosian. “I don’t want this to be, in any sense, that we are writing tickets to fill our pockets."
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Mayor Maloney also objected to comments he had received from citizens accusing the city of being “unfriendly” to businesses. He pointed out that the City Council and staff had made it possible for restaurants to expand outdoor dining, particularly on Main Street, and had initiated other assistance as well, like offering 2.5-month credits for liquor and business licenses.
More recently, the council expressed support for extending outdoor dining and tent dining until Nov. 15 — two weeks longer than initially planned.
“It’s interesting how quickly people forget what city staff and City Council have done,” Maloney said.
Robert McCoppin and Angie Leventis Lourgos contributed.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-11-03--Evanston mayor asks Northwestern to pay bill for protests as student groups push school to defund ca

Evanston mayor asks Northwestern to pay bill for protests as student groups push school to defund campus police

A student organizer with NU Community Not Cops declined an interview after she was asked to share her name for @ @ @ @ @ identity .
The group said in a social media message that students will only speak @ @ @ @ @ ’ re granted anonymity because “ we aren ’ t compromising our safety.
” Another @ @ @ @ @ Tribune about Saturday ’ s protest asked not to be named “ out of fear @ @ @ @ @

Property was vandalized in Evanston during a protest calling for Northwestern University police to be defunded. (Evanston Police Department)
After Northwestern University student protests escalated Saturday and one student was arrested, Evanston’s mayor issued a public letter calling on the school to reimburse the city for the resulting costs.
The letter highlights the ways in which the city of Evanston has been left to deal with protests in which students' demands are largely focused on university matters. The planned monthlong demonstrations are part of an effort by student-led NU Community Not Cops, a group that for weeks has been pushing the university to abolish or defund the campus police department and to sever ties with Evanston and Chicago agencies.
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However, because many of the protests have occurred off campus, the Evanston Police Department with assistance from other suburban agencies has largely been left to handle the response. NU police do not respond to events outside of campus grounds.
After weeks of largely peaceful protests with no arrests reported, on Saturday a group of about 150 protesters gathered in downtown Evanston near Sheridan Road and Clark Street. Evanston police characterized the event as turning from a peaceful protest “to that of intentional destruction.” One officer suffered an eye injury, protesters were pepper sprayed and more than a dozen incidents of property damage were reported, officials said.
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Police said the pepper spray was deployed to “prevent injury to bystanders and police officers.” Meanwhile, other campus groups Monday continued to criticize Evanston Police Department’s handling of the events on Halloween night.
A student organizer with NU Community Not Cops declined an interview after she was asked to share her name for the purpose of confirming her identity. The group said in a social media message that students will only speak to a reporter if they’re granted anonymity because “we aren’t compromising our safety.” Another student who spoke to the Tribune about Saturday’s protest asked not to be named “out of fear for his safety.”
Evanston police released video of what they describe as student protesters lighting fireworks in the direction of police officers on Oct. 31, 2020. (Evanston Police Department)
On Sunday, Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty released a letter written to Northwestern President Morton Schapiro stating he expected the university to cover the costs of the local police response.
“While this 30-day protest is costing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, in overtime, which I anticipate NU will cover, I, like you, want to know that these protesters are safe,” Hagerty wrote. “It is always on my mind that the protester is someone’s child, and whether I agree or disagree with their efforts, they deserve to protest safely.”
In the letter, Hagerty cited Evanston’s recent efforts to reexamine its own policing procedures and the city’s landmark reparations initiative that will use money collected from a local marijuana sales tax to fund initiatives to support the community’s Black residents.
"Protesters are not helping their cause by putting officers' safety at risk and defacing and damaging public property, ironically all in a city that, while still very much a work-in-progress, is the first in America to create a reparations fund,” Hagerty wrote.
University spokesman Jon Yates released a statement in response, writing: “University leadership meets on a regular basis with the mayor of Evanston and the city manager, and we anticipate that our upcoming meetings will discuss the protest and a range of topics that impact both Northwestern and Evanston. We will continue to work in close partnership with the city to protect our campus community and our broader Evanston community.”
Other student groups, faculty members and Evanston activists also reacted to the weekend’s protests on Monday.
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A family member of Jacob Blake, the former Evanston resident shot by police in Kenosha over the summer, said the family does not condone violent protests and hopes to work with Evanston police Chief Demitrous Cook to help defuse the situation.
The Blake family drew thousands of supporters to peaceful rallies in Evanston and Kenosha following Jacob Blake’s shooting in August.
“You can’t be upset with people being dismayed and displeased. They have a right to be angry. We’re angry as well,” said Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake. “We just choose to do things differently.”
Blake described Cook as “a dear friend of our family.”
“We ask that folks find another way” to channel their anger, Justin Blake said Monday.
Northwestern University Graduate Workers, an organization of graduate students that acts as a union without the school’s recognition, said in a statement that two of its members were pepper sprayed during the Halloween night protests.
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The group said it supports calls for NU to divest from law enforcement and condemned what it described as “the police brutality on display” at the protest, according to the online statement.
“Last night proved once again that it is heavily armed, militarized police who create and escalate violence,” the statement says. It added, “the police do not, and never will, keep us safe.”
The NUGW response also linked police actions during the protest to a recent email from Schapiro that criticized some demonstrators and urged him to resign.
The controversial Oct. 19 email followed a chaotic scene outside of Schapiro’s home, where a protest last month culminated. After that protest, in which a school banner was burned and campus property was spray painted, Schapiro issued a schoolwide email rebuking the protesters who became destructive and saying he was “disgusted” by those who “chose to disgrace” Northwestern. While Schapiro said he supported expressions of free speech, he announced there were no plans to abolish the campus police department.
But NUGW said Schapiro’s rhetoric emboldened Evanston police officers to provoke protesters on Saturday and in the days since email.
“This was a threat of aggression which gave police officers the green light to exact violence with impunity against student protesters,” the NUGW statements says. “President Schapiro, who sits in one of the highest positions of power at this institution, helped to unleash this terror on his own students.”
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NUGW describes itself on its website as an “an anti-racist, feminist labor union fighting for better working and living conditions for all graduate workers.”
For Black, brown and Indigenous graduate workers, the fight to eradicate police from Northwestern’s campus is an issue of workplace safety, the group said. It challenged recent media accounts of this weekend’s protest, including the Chicago Tribune’s, saying journalists have accepted the police version of events.
As of Monday afternoon, broad swaths of the faculty hadn’t publicly weighed in on Saturday’s protest, but many previously expressed dismay at Schapiro’s handling of earlier student actions. Academic departments in African American studies, anthropology and global health studies all issued statements in support of the student protesters after Schapiro’s harsh email and urged Schapiro to better address issues of racial injustice on campus.
Additionally, an Oct. 26 letter signed by a coalition of more than 500 faculty and staff also admonished Schapiro for dismissing student concerns and failing to engage with Black faculty members.
“We share our colleagues' conviction that your responses, and those of the university administration at large, to ongoing instances of violence at the campus, local, state, and national levels have been inadequate, bureaucratic, and complacent,” the letter says.
Police said they charged a 20-year-old female student with misdemeanor battery, resisting arrest and using a fictitious and altered driver’s license after “she used her bike to strike an officer."
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Genevieve Bookwalter is a Pioneer Press reporter.
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echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-03--With thousands completing ballots from home because of the pandemic, voters engage in new ways to di

With thousands completing ballots from home because of the pandemic, voters engage in new ways to discuss election issues

“ Now it feels like the best thing to do is get your vote in as quickly as you can @ @ @ @ @ quickly as you can , ” Hickey said .
“ But it ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ ’ re older and I have a heart condition , so we ’ ve been @ @ @ @ @ ’ t even been in a grocery store since March , but this is important @ @ @ @

Elizabeth Nelson, left, and her husband Adam Kallish (not pictured) discuss issues and candidates as they help their daughter Anastasia Kallish, right, 22, fill out her mail-in ballot in the dining room of their home on Oct. 10, 2020, in Chicago. It is Anastasia's first time voting in a presidential election. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Adam Kallish said he doesn’t think he’ll ever go back to voting in person after this election.
The 57-year-old from Rogers Park applied for a mail-in ballot for the first time this election and cast it through a drop box in mid-October. After receiving the ballot and taking time with his family to research and discuss each candidate on it, utilizing time he hasn’t had in past elections, he said he has a new perspective on voting.
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“I just think it’s better to think and do it over time,” Kallish said. “I think we should really get out of in-person voting and just do it all mail-in. You would avoid all the logistics — you would avoid having to take off work.”
Kallish’s perspective is one many voters across the nation have shared as states have increased access to mail-in voting given the COVID-19 pandemic. With the United States now on the cusp of Election Day, voters have shattered early voting records across the state, largely due to an unprecedented surge in mail-in voting.
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As more voters have participated in different methods of voting during a particularly contentious election season, which has been backlit by concerns with COVID-19, allegations of potential voter fraud and delays in the U.S. Postal Service, many also have engaged in new ways of talking about the issues and candidates, impacting the ways in which they’ve voted and prepared to vote.
Elizabeth Nelson, right, and her husband, Adam Kallish, center, discuss issues and candidates as they help their 22-year-old daughter Anastasia Kallish, left, fill out her mail-in ballot Oct. 10, 2020, in the dining room of their home in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Elizabeth Nelson, left, discusses issues and candidates with her daughter Anastasia Kallish while they fill out her mail-in ballot Oct. 10, 2020, in the dining room of their home in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
In Chicago, about 354,000 voters have cast a ballot in person, surpassing the city’s 2016 total for the duration of early voting, and more than 402,000 have returned ballots by mail. In suburban Cook County, voters have sent in more than 576,000 mail-in ballot requests, which is about five times the number requested in 2016.
But with uncertainty particularly high in this election, prompting repeated reminders from election officials about the safety of mail-in voting, some voters had to weigh their concerns with mail-in voting with the risk of in-person voting posed by COVID-19.
Maureen Hickey, 63, and her husband, Michael Grider, 65, said they’ve voted in person every past election. They hoped to do the same this year but applied for mail-in ballots given worries surrounding COVID-19.
Hickey, a health care worker, said COVID-19 has been a clarifying moment for her in terms of her vote. She and Grider surrendered their mail-in ballots to vote in person, which she said “wasn’t the most comfortable experience” but felt like the right thing to do.
Maureen Hickey and her husband, Michael Grider, fill out mail-in ballots together Oct. 13, 2020, in the backyard of their home in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
“Now it feels like the best thing to do is get your vote in as quickly as you can and get it recorded as quickly as you can,” Hickey said. “But it’s a balancing act, because we’re older and I have a heart condition, so we’ve been very careful. We haven’t even been in a grocery store since March, but this is important, right?”
Hickey echoed the sentiment that she’s had a much higher level of awareness and a broader education about the various levels of government compared with past elections. She’s felt more motivated this year and wanted to vote in person to “leave as little room for challenge as possible.”
“I trust the electoral process; I don’t trust the way it’s likely to be challenged,” Hickey said.
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To ensure her ballot didn’t get lost in the mail, Kim Le Mezo, 32, voted Oct. 23 in Rogers Park by dropping her mail-in ballot in a drop box, a method of voting that was new this fall to areas such as Cook County.
“I have always voted in person,” Le Mezo said. “I just decided to drop it off in the secure location rather than mail it just as an extra precaution.”
Kim Le Mezo fills out her mail-in ballot Oct. 23, 2020, at her home in Chicago. Le Mezo said it was her first time using a mail-in ballot, which she requested due to uncertainty about voting in person due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Kim Le Mezo turns in her mail-in ballot to the secure box at the New Field Elementary School polling place on Oct. 23, 2020, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Le Mezo prepared for the vote by referencing a number of voter guides online, which some of her progressive friends and people in her network had been posting about on Facebook. Though in-person voting seemed more convenient for her given her proximity to a local polling place, she felt she shouldn’t “waste the paper” after requesting the mail-in ballot over the summer.
For Elizabeth Nelson, Kallish’s wife, and their daughter Anastasia Kallish, 22, COVID-19 and the ability to vote by mail has provided an opportunity to sit down and read more about every candidate on the ballot, particularly the judicial ones.
Nelson said she also cast her ballot by dropping it off in a drop box in her area, adding that she felt she had more time to research and discuss with family around the dining room table at home, making her “feel like a much better, informed voter.”
“We’ve always had the opportunity to do that research ... and to have those discussions,” Nelson said. “But it took a situation like this — maybe it’s just being together all the time because of COVID — to actually sit down and have those discussions.”
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Heading into Election Day, local officials are encouraging voters who have yet to cast their mail-in ballot to drop it off at a secured drop box by 7 p.m. Tuesday to ensure it’s received on time. Ballots sent by mail must be postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 17.
“We know there are many voters out there who still need to return their ballots and I encourage you to do so at a vote-by-mail secure drop box,” Marisel Hernandez, chairwoman of the Chicago Board of Elections, said during a Monday news conference.
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-11-05--Daywatch: Pivotal states remain in presidential race, Pritzker warns of ‘painful’ budget cuts and fi

Daywatch: Pivotal states remain in presidential race, Pritzker warns of ‘painful’ budget cuts and first time voters share their stories

The Tribune spoke with a dozen first-time voters about why they thought it was important to cast their ballots and @ @ @ @ @ day later with results still pending .
Some voted because they became eligible , including @ @ @ @ @ others felt more strongly than they had in the past about the issues and the @ @ @ @ @ what they had to say .

Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, Illinois officials reported 55 more deaths from COVID-19 and 7,538 newly diagnosed cases — the second-highest number of daily cases ever recorded. The news came as Illinois' top public health official warned there is a potential hospital bed shortage developing in some parts of the state.
Meanwhile, it’s two days after Election Day and the ballots for the presidential race and some local races are still being counted. Follow along with the latest updates here.
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Here’s more election news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 general election Nov. 4, 2020, at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. (Matt Slocum/AP)
Joe Biden won the state of Wisconsin, 10 electoral votes, and Michigan, 16 electoral votes, on Wednesday according to the Associated Press, as the nation’s attention focused on the northern industrial states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — and the southwest — Nevada and Arizona — which will prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s campaign also filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
As Republicans mount legal challenges to presidential results, hundreds march through the Loop, demanding all votes be counted
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during his daily news conference on Nov. 4, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Fresh off spending $58 million of his fortune in a losing effort to pass a graduated-rate income tax, a frustrated Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday said “painful” budget cuts are coming and suggested an attempt to raise taxes could come as soon as two weeks.
Pritzker lashed out at Republicans, business groups and Ken Griffin, Illinois' richest man, accusing opponents of distorting the truth about what the amendment would have done.
House Speaker Michael Madigan stands behind Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Feb. 19, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Heading into Tuesday, some Illinois Republicans privately feared Democrats would wipe them out as the state’s voters repudiated four years of President Donald Trump.
Instead, voters delivered a repudiation of Illinois government, spurred by amped-up Trump supporters, a billionaire benefactor, concern over high taxes, a House speaker caught up in a federal investigation and recently reinstituted pandemic restrictions due to renewed cases of COVID-19.
Alpana Singh, pictured at Tied House during an interview about her return as host of "Check, Please!", renounced the prestigious wine title that takes professionals years of study to achieve. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Alpana Singh, the Chicago-area restaurateur and host of “Check, Please!”, has renounced a title conferred by an elite wine organization after multiple women accused male members of the group of sexual harassment and assault in a New York Times article.
Erika Garcia, 27, right, casts her ballot at Daisy's Hair Studio in Chicago on Nov. 3, 2020. She got citizenship three years ago and is voting for the first time in presidential elections. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune spoke with a dozen first-time voters about why they thought it was important to cast their ballots and how they are feeling a day later with results still pending. Some voted because they became eligible, including newly naturalized U.S. citizens; others felt more strongly than they had in the past about the issues and the candidates. Here’s what they had to say.


chicagotribune--2020-11-05--Column: By contesting the election, Trump is trying to disenfranchise millions of Black voters.

Still , Trump always tried to keep a few African Americans dangling round .
He would occasionally invite them to @ @ @ @ @ photo op .
One or two of them always would be seated in prominent positions @ @ @ @ @ they could be in full view of the TV cameras .
And occasionally , he @ @ @ @ @ representatives a few promises that he had no intention of keeping .

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House early on Nov. 4, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
If Donald Trump ends up getting kicked out of the White House, it seems fitting that African Americans would be the ones to give him the final shove out the door.
After all the ballots are counted, African Americans could end up bringing down a president who claims to have done more for the Black community than anyone since Abraham Lincoln.
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Black people always knew that was a lie. They also knew that the moment Trump considered them to be useless to his political agenda, he would toss them aside the way he does everyone who gets in his way.
So on Tuesday, African Americans let Trump know exactly how they feel about him.
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He received only about 12% of the Black vote, according to CNN exit polls. It was higher than the 8% he got in 2016, but it was only a smidgen of the 87% Democrat Joe Biden received.
The showdown between Trump and African Americans was inevitable. Discontent had been simmering since early in his presidency when Trump seemed to open his arms to anyone who could help him win, including neo-Nazis.
Still, Trump always tried to keep a few African Americans dangling round. He would occasionally invite them to the White House for a photo op. One or two of them always would be seated in prominent positions at his campaign rallies so they could be in full view of the TV cameras. And occasionally, he would offer organizations and community representatives a few promises that he had no intention of keeping.
This week, African Americans showed him how fed up they were.
Black voters in urban areas of several battleground states came through in the waning hours of election night to give Biden’s presidential bid a riveting burst of energy.
The next day, after millions of absentee ballots were counted, Biden was projected to win Michigan and Wisconsin, victories that narrowed Trump’s path to reelection. Votes were still being counted in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
Black voters came through for Biden, just as they did in primary elections, giving him a clear path to the White House. In doing so, they sent a strong message to Trump. And he sent one right back to them.
Fearing that absentee ballots, mostly submitted by African Americans in cities such as Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, would erase his tenuous lead, Trump went straight to the courts.
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By doing so, Trump sought to disenfranchise millions of African American voters. Suddenly, this group of people whom he had tried to woo during the campaign was in his way. They were as worthless to him as a Democrat in solidly red Mississippi.
The lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan laid the groundwork for the president to contest the outcomes in those two states. The goal is to have the courts toss some 3.1 million absentee ballots in Michigan, nearly 1.3 million in Georgia and another 2.6 million in Pennsylvania, effectively awarding the presidency to him.
Most African Americans never trusted Trump. The idea that a substantial number of Blacks would join forces with white supremacists, anti-Semites and gun-wielding militia people to grant Trump another four years to spew hate was ludicrous.
Whether Trump ends up winning or losing in the end, the ridiculous assertion that he is a friend to African Americans can finally be put to rest. If things work out the way Black people hope, they will never have to listen to him boast about all he has done for them again.
Most African Americans simply tuned out Trump when he talked about creating the lowest unemployment rate ever for Blacks. They knew that the declining unemployment rate began under Barack Obama’s administration.
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It is true that the unemployment rate for African Americans reached historic lows prior to the coronavirus pandemic; the declines followed a downward trend that began in 2011. Obama got the Black unemployment rate off to a start, and he maintained the downward trend until he left office.
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African Americans suffered disproportionately during the recession created by George Bush’s administration, reaching a peak of 16.8% unemployment in March 2010. By January 2017, when Obama left office, Black unemployment had dropped to 7.7%.
The incremental drops since Trump took office are lower than the 9 percentage points it fell under Obama’s watch in the White House.
Black people never trusted Trump. But he didn’t seem to recognize that African American voters are among the most political savvy people around.
They know a lie when they hear it. And they know when they’re being used. They were just waiting for this election to come around so they could prove that he needed them much more than they needed him.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-11-05--Michigan Senate election: Democratic incumbent Gary Peters holds off Republican John James

“ I am sincerely honored that the voters of Michigan have once again put their trust and confidence in me @ @ @ @ @ United States Senate , ” Peters said in a statement .
“ As we look @ @ @ @ @ to keep working to move our state forward and continue putting Michigan first .
”

Non-partisan poll election challenger Richard Saad observes election inspectors as they begin to count ballots on Election Day at City Hall in Warren, Michigan, on Nov. 3, 2020. (David Goldman/AP)
LANSING, Mich. — Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters won reelection Wednesday, defeating Republican challenger John James in a tight, expensive race that was the state’s most competitive in two decades.
He continued Democrats' dominance of Senate elections in the battleground presidential state. Republicans have won just once since the 1970s.
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Peters is a former congressman, state lawmaker, lottery commissioner and investment adviser who served in the Navy Reserve. He ran by emphasizing his bipartisan work, his ranking as one of the most effective senators and James' support for President Donald Trump.
“I am sincerely honored that the voters of Michigan have once again put their trust and confidence in me to represent them in the United States Senate,” Peters said in a statement. “As we look ahead, I am energized to keep working to move our state forward and continue putting Michigan first.”
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Earlier in the day, James retweeted his campaign consultant’s claim that he had “won this race” — despite Peters later taking and building his lead to about 74,000 votes, or 1 percentage point — drawing criticism from Democrats. James' campaign did not immediately comment on Peters' victory.
Despite the win, Democrats sustained setbacks elsewhere and faced increasing odds in the battle to reclaim control of the Senate from Republicans.
The non-flashy Peters, 61, was one of two incumbent Democrats to seek reelection in a state Donald Trump won in 2016 — a presidential battleground no less and a rare place on the Senate map for Republicans to play offense in 2020. James, a 39-year-old Black businessman and Iraq War veteran, waged a stiff challenge as he aimed to become the first Michigan Republican to win a Senate seat in a quarter-century.
Peters criticized James' opposition to the federal health care overhaul and noted James backed Trump “2,000%” during his first campaign — a 2018 loss to Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
James, a dynamic campaigner who would have become Michigan’s first African American senator if he had won, highlighted his leadership of his family’s automotive logistics company in Detroit and his service in combat after graduating from West Point. His campaign gave 5% of donations to charity.
He called Peters a “do-nothing” career politician and questioned his bipartisan credentials, noting he voted against confirming all three of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees.
The candidates and allied groups spent more than $131 million on TV, digital and radio ads — eighth-most among Senate contests, according to data from the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG. Democrats poured at least $13 million more into advertising than Republicans did. James, unlike other Republican Senate candidates, largely kept pace in fundraising with his opponent.
Despite Republicans' hopes that James could win even if Trump lost, he did not substantially outperform the president — trailing by about 1.3 points instead of Trump’s 2.5-point deficit with 99% of precincts reporting.
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Republicans have taken just one of Michigan’s last 15 Senate races, in 1994, when Spencer Abraham won an open seat.