US Rep Jackson faces first Democratic challenge

CHICAGO — The former congresswoman and one-time Mary Kay saleswoman dashed up to the pulpit of the black megachurch and offered stories of growing up poor and raising two children on her own as she tried to win the congregation's support for her bid to unseat Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Debbie Halvorson, who is white, is giving the son of the iconic civil rights leader his first real competition in a district that has been held by a black congressman for three decades. She believes recent ethics scandals have made him vulnerable, and a new congressional map has added more white and rural voters to his district — along with a large chunk of the area Halvorson represented until she lost to a candidate with strong tea party support in 2010.

Jackson is fighting back by hiring a pricey public relations firm, opening a campaign office outside of Chicago in Kankakee and registering new voters in rural areas. The campaign is shaping up as one of the toughest fights in Illinois' March 20 primary, and it could be the latest test of whether famously segregated Chicago and its surrounding suburbs have moved beyond voting along racial lines.

"We need someone who says it doesn't matter where you grew up, you should have the same equal opportunity to education," Halvorson told the congregation at Sweet Holy Spirit Church of Chicago, where the gospel-singing pastor has endorsed her. "I grew up poor. I know what we need, we need jobs now."

The warehouse-style church — which boasts 9,000 members — erupted in applause.

Last year's mayoral election — in which blacks and Hispanics largely supported Rahm Emanuel despite several minority candidates on the ballot — challenged assumptions about race in politics even though the metro area remains heavily segregated. Halvorson's success largely depends on race not mattering in this election either, although Jackson's famous name, changes to the district and a House ethics investigation into Jackson's ties to prison-bound former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich complicate the equation.

Both campaigns released internal polls in January that put Jackson well ahead. And political experts note that Jackson's family name resonates deeply in the district he has won up until now with more than 80 percent of the vote.

"It's a name that represents more than 40 years of activism in the African American community, particularly in Chicago," said Robert Starks, a professor at Northeastern Illinois University who studies politics and race. "I don't think she can beat him."