He's picking a white woman over a black man.
That's how leading advocates in Chicago's black communities have begun to frame Gov. Pat Quinn's recruitment of Tammy Duckworth over Art Turner.
Duckworth, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and previously the director of Illinois' VA department, has become the leading contender for the nomination after Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker with a troubled past, dropped his nomination under party pressure.
Turner, a state representative, earned the second-highest number of votes in the race for lieutenant governor, yet Quinn has passed him over in an attempt to balance the Democratic ticket with someone outside of Chicago.
It is still unclear whether Duckworth will take the job. She has not accepted since Quinn extended an offer last week.
But already, black leaders are arguing that the decision to recruit Duckworth over Turner is racist, hinting at the seeds of what could become a backlash against one of the black community's favorite white politicians.
"Governor Quinn's open solicitation for Tammy Duckworth and a blatant disregard for the voters [sic] choice in Art Turner is an insult to the black community and the black leadership who helped save Quinn from defeat in the primary," wrote Mark Allen, an advocate for independent black politics in Chicago.
Allen called for William "Dock" Walls, whose candidacy foundered during the Democratic primary, to resume a campaign for governor and take on Quinn as an independent candidate.
"Maybe a large black turnout could win from a split between the Democrat, Republican and Green Party turnout."
Hermene D. Hartman, publisher of N'Digo, a black publication that endorsed Quinn earlier this year, questioned the fairness of choosing Duckworth over Turner.
"Art Turner should assume the seat, simply because he won," Hartman wrote in a publisher's note. "He was the second highest vote getter, as determined by the voters. Period."
"Make some noise," Hartman wrote to readers.
Windy Citizen 