Pedro DeJesus, a relatively unknown 37-year-old lawyer, is making his first run for office in the March 16 Democratic primary–he wants to be the state representative of the 39th District on the city’s near northwest side. Most observers say he won’t win. Yet over the past few weeks the local regular Democrats have been using, as one insider puts it, “honey and vinegar–whatever it takes–to coax or coerce him out of the race.”
In the past few years Berrios has been eager to make peace with his erstwhile adversaries, if only to advance the career of Toni, who graduated from Northeastern Illinois University just in time to run for state rep in 2002. “The district was newly created after the 2001 redistricting, and a lot of people wanted to run,” says DeJesus. “But they didn’t run. Toni ran unopposed because–well, let’s put it this way, Joe can be very persuasive.”
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DeJesus says many of the politicians whose support he expected have been trying to get him to make a deal: “They were very up-front about it. They told me that Joe would slate me for judge or a seat on the Water Reclamation District if I dropped out.” He says other politicians told him he could be slated to run for alderman of the 31st Ward once the incumbent, Ray Suarez, retired. “A guy in Berrios’s organization told me I should ‘think about making peace, because all the ward bosses are working against you. You have a bright future, but it wouldn’t do any good if you make all these enemies. And you know, maybe Suarez is going to step down.’ Like they’re just going to hand the seat over to me.”
At the end of December an electoral board hearing officer ruled in DeJesus’s favor. Cardona then appealed to the full board, which ruled in DeJesus’s favor in early January. Now Cardona’s appealing to the Cook County circuit court.
Berrios doesn’t mind admitting that he tried to lure DeJesus out of the race with the offer to slate him for another office. In politics, he explains, friends help their friends, and DeJesus would have been his friend if he’d pulled out of Toni Berrios’s race. “Listen, I don’t have anything against DeJesus,” he says. “I told him straight up, ‘You’re a young guy. I’ll help you down the road. But understand, I can’t help you when you’re running against my daughter.’”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Kathy Richland.
