When the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago in late August 2024, a face familiar to Forest Parkers may be among the delegates.
Mayor Rory Hoskins is one of the six candidates, and the only suburban candidate, in the running to serve as incumbent Pres. Joe Biden delegate for the 7th congressional district. The delegates are part of the official process political parties use to select their nominees for president. For district-level delegates, the vote is a little more than a formality, since it reflects whichever candidate got the most votes in the primary.
Voters who are registered as Democrats will choose the delegates during the March 19 primary election.
The other five candidates are all Chicago elected officials who live in various parts of the 7th District. The race pits Hoskins against Illinois State Rep. La Shawn Ford (9th), who lives in the Austin neighborhood and whose district includes Oak Park and Forest Park. Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), who represents portions of Austin and West Humboldt Park neighborhoods and is an influential figure in West Side Democratic politics, threw her hat in the ring as well. Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), another West Sider, serves as a Chicago vice mayor. Other candidates include Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), currently the only Asian-American alderman on the Chicago City Council, fellow South Side Ald. Patt Dowell (3rd), and State Rep. Kam Buckner (26th).
Hoskins was elected as Biden campaign delegate for the 7th District in 2020. He told the Review that he volunteered for the Biden campaign during that election, just like he did in 2024.
Hoskins was first elected village mayor in 2019. He has served as a village commissioner, and he ran for Illinois House of Representatives 7th District seat in 2012.
When Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago, he had to give up his seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The selection committee was made up of Democratic Party committeepersons who represented Johnson’s 1st District was put together to fill the vacancy until the November 2024 election. The committee included Burnett and Mitts. Hoskins was one of the six finalists who got to go before the committee, but the committee chose Chicago labor activist Tara Stamps.
More recently, in October 2023, Hoskins was among the Tribal, state and local government officials that have been appointed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative to a spot on the Intergovernmental Policy Committee.
