Black successor for Jones not guaranteed

Do blacks in the State Senate really believe that they "own" the position of state Senate President? That appears to be the thesis of this Russ Stewart column. As has been covered on this blog the current Senate President Emil Jones will step down next year. So now there's a lot of intrigue as to who will replace him.

I've heard a lot about the political calculus that goes on here in Chicago or Cook County. In Chicago, a member of the Polish community was expected to take the City Clerk spot, a black should take the City Treasurer spot, and the mayoralty. Well you know where I'm going with that although let's be honest here no one race or ethnicity should "own" a political office.

The State Senate is a whole different story. State government is largely seen in the press and other political observers as dysfunctional. They might also have pointed fingers at the leadership of this state. Namely Rod Blagojevich, Michael Madigan, & Emil Jones. And they all have one main similarity, they are all Chicago Democrats.

According to this column Sen. Rickey Hendon has said that Jones must be succeeded by another black Chicago Senator. Another black Senate Democrat James Clayborne, who's from East St. Louis was seen by Hendon as too concilliatory. In light of what's going on it's a good thing that Clayborne is both black and a downstater.

I think Hendon has been in the game long enough to know better. Is it politically a good idea to place another Chicago Democrat as the Presiding officer in the state senate? It could be argued that if the General Assembly isn't basking in the glow of popularity what could change that is to place a downstater as the presiding officer of the state Senate.

Why place a political calculus that might be seen as working in Cook County to the rest of the state where it's more likely that geography will trump race every time?