Feb. 02--A federal probe into Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown's office hasn't derailed her re-election bid so far -- she's well ahead of her two challengers, though many voters have yet to make up their minds, a new Chicago Tribune poll shows.
The survey found 36 percent of voters supporting Brown in the March 15 Democratic primary, compared with 11 percent backing 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris and 6 percent favoring attorney Jacob Meister. But 47 percent were undecided or in support of someone not on the ballot, leaving plenty of votes to mine before Election Day.
The poll of 968 registered Cook County Democratic voters was conducted by Research America Inc. using live landline and cellphone interviews from Jan. 20-28. It has an error margin of 3.2 percentage points.
Brown, an attorney and CPA first elected without party backing in 2000, initially was endorsed by the county Democratic Party last summer. But city ward and suburban township committeemen pulled that backing in October after news surfaced that the FBI had seized her work cellphone. The party nod switched to Harris.
About a month after Harris was endorsed, a federal grand jury indicted a Circuit Court clerk employee for allegedly lying to agents looking into "possible criminal violations in connection with the purchasing of jobs and promotions" within Brown's office.
In a recent appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board, Brown said federal authorities also subpoenaed promissory notes related to $15,000 the indicted employee purportedly lent to a business owned by Brown's husband, Benton Cook III. The loan was made weeks before the employee was rehired by Brown's office in September 2014, authorities said.
Brown said authorities had returned her phone and she had nothing to hide. "They can look at my texts," Brown said. "They can look at my emails. They can look at whatever they want to look at, because I know I have proper controls in place. It's impossible -- impossible for me or anyone else to sell any jobs in that office."
The poll found Brown's support is still strong among African-American voters, with 55 percent saying they support her. She had 38 percent support among Hispanics and 22 percent among whites. The margin of error among those groups is 5.7 percentage points.
Harris' support ranged from 9 percent to 11 percent among the three racial and ethnic groups. About 7 percent of whites and 10 percent of Hispanics backed Meister, who received a meager 1 percent among blacks.
Whites were the least likely to know who they would vote for -- a full 62 percent were undecided or favored another candidate. Those numbers were 32 percent among blacks and 42 percent among Hispanics.
Harris, 54, was first appointed alderman in 2006 by Mayor Richard M. Daley. She replaced Todd Stroger, who left the City Council after being elected County Board president. Harris is a niece and former aide to Stroger's council predecessor, the late Ald. Lorraine Dixon.
Meister, 50, is an attorney who has pledged to further automate an office long criticized for its limited technological capabilities. Meister also founded the Civil Rights Agenda, a gay rights advocacy group.
Before being elected clerk, Brown, 62, was an auditor at the CTA.
Two other candidates -- anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman and former 16th Ward Ald. Shirley Coleman -- filed to run in the contest but have since dropped out.
hdardick@tribpub.com
