Egonmwan withdraws from 16th Senate Race to continue advocacy work on behalf of the community
Attorney and Radio talk show host Kimberly Egonmwan announced Monday she withdrew as a candidate to succeed State Senator Jackie Collins in the 16th Illinois Senate District in order to continue advocacy work on behalf of the community’s needs.
Egonmwan, who served as the Legislative Director for Chicago O’Hare and Midway International Airports, and Chief of Legislative Affairs for Illinois Department of Public Health got her start working as an attorney for the Illinois Senate Committee on Revenue and Director of the Senate Democratic Chicago Office.
With her unmatched policy background, combined with her reputation as the longtime Monday Political Commentator and Afternoon co-host on the popular WVON 1690 AM Radio station, Egonmwan filed petitions to run for the 16th Illinois Senate District seat after getting support from Collins, who announced she would run to succeed Congressman Bobby Rush who is retiring in the 1st District.
Egonmwan said she spent many weeks talking with voters in the 16th Senate district to reinforce the issues they believe needed to be addressed, but one other issue kept coming up.
“So many of them said they loved hearing me use my voice on radio to represent their needs as I was being encouraged to run by people who wanted a strong voice to succeed Senator Collins, but seeing the sheer amount of need in our community made me think about how I can best help the public at this particular moment,” Egonmwan said.
“Every person I spoke with who encouraged me to run also said my voice representing their views on the topics impacting their lives was important to them.”
Egonmwan said that although she filed enough petitions to be on the ballot in the June 28 Democratic Primary contest, she voluntarily withdrew her petitions.
“I love representing the needs of my community on WVON. I wanted to do something more to help the public and I thought the 16th District vacancy would be the perfect opportunity,” Egonmwan explained.
“But as I thought more about it and as I spoke with listeners and voters, I realized I still have time to decide my future and more opportunities to continue to do good, using my current platform. I decided to file my withdrawal papers which I did this morning.”
The radio station describes her energy as “blazing with passion and a thoughtful communication style. Egonmwan creates an atmosphere of respect where the truth is welcomed.”
The WVON promo adds, “Voicing the truth straight with no chaser, Egonmwan invites her audience to say what’s on their mind while keeping their appetite full of facts they may or may not be ready to digest. Always ready to listen and fight to make a difference, Egonmwan is a champion for spreading truth to her listeners.”
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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