After Robin Kelly’s special election victory to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. Tuesday night, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Natasha Korecki, who helped lead the media charge against Republican Paul McKinley, reported the election by the people was a mere “formality.”
Korecki’s comment echoes many in the local media, who reported as early as the day of the candidate filing deadline over three months ago that the winner of the race “will be” a Democrat.
Korecki wrote:
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting across the sprawling district, Kelly trounced her Republican opponent, winning 71 percent to 22 percent of the vote against Paul McKinley, a self-claimed reformed convicted felon who wanted to invigorate struggling neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side and south suburbs.
The vote Tuesday night was largely a formality after Kelly won a more contentious Democratic primary in February. The special election was scheduled after Jackson resigned from his office last November. Jackson, along with his wife, resigned Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), pleaded guilty in February after admitting they looted Jesse Jackson Jr.’s congressional campaign fund. [emphasis added]
While there is no disputing the Illinois second congressional district is heavily Democrat, Korecki’s remarks demonstrate a lack of respect for the electoral process as well as the two out of three counties that McKinley won. It also reveals a true disregard for the more than 25% of voters in the district who voted against Kelly becoming their next representative.