Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee said Thursday she is laying the groundwork to join the field of candidates seeking to replace retiring Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
If she takes the plunge, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) would join a wide-open field of candidates that already includes City Clerk Anna Valencia and former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough is also considering a run for the patronage-rich office.
Giannoulias is a statewide vote-getter and proven fundraiser who lost the 2010 race for the U.S. Senate by fewer than 60,000 votes to Republican Mark Kirk.