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Former Secretary of State Jesse White Endorses Paul Vallas for Mayor
Venerated Public Servant Says Vallas Will be a Mayor for ALL Chicagoans
Fresh off his first place showing in the Mayoral primary, Paul Vallas is announcing the endorsement of former Illinois Secretary of State and venerated public servant Jesse White.
The longest serving Secretary of State in Illinois history, White is a U.S. Army veteran and he served in the office from 1999 to 2023, consistently winning re-election and establishing himself as one of the most popular Democratic politicians in the state.
His endorsement is the first of many that the Vallas campaign expects to announce in the coming days.
“Paul Vallas has a clear plan to make every neighborhood in the city safer, and I know that he will be a Mayor for all Chicagoans that every resident can count on,” said Secretary White.
“I’m proud to endorse Paul Vallas and I know that he’s the right choice to move Chicago forward.”
Prior to his election as Secretary of State, White served as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1993 to 1999 and in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 to 1993. He is a former teacher and administrator at the Chicago Public Schools, and was a minor league baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization.
“It’s a true honor to receive the endorsement of Secretary White, a leader with a remarkable record of public service and someone I greatly admire,” said Vallas.
“Our campaign is about making Chicago safer in every neighborhood and for all residents, because public safety is a fundamental human right. We will be announcing more endorsements soon, but starting this runoff campaign with the support of an icon like Jesse White shows exactly the kind of broad, diverse coalition that we are building.”
Vallas finished with 34% of the vote in Tuesday’s election and posted strong pluralities across multiple areas of the city, making him the clear frontrunner entering the runoff election.
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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.
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