Danny Davis
Official portrait, 2013
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Cardiss Collins
Member of theCook County Board of Commissioners
In office December 20, 1990 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Multi–member district
Succeeded by	Darlena Williams-Burnett
Constituency	Chicago at-large (1990–1994) 1st district (1994–1997)
Member of theChicago City Council from the 29th Ward
In office April 16, 1979 – December 20, 1990
Preceded by	Leroy Cross
Succeeded by	Sam Burrell
Personal details
Born	(1941-09-06)September 6, 1941 (age 84) Parkdale, Arkansas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Vera Davis ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	2
Education	University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff (BA) Chicago State University (MS) Union Institute and University (PhD)
Signature
Website	House website Campaign website
Davis's voice Davis on the enactment ofMedicare andMedicaid. Recorded July 29, 2009

Danny K. Davis (born September 6, 1941) is an American politician serving as theU.S. representative forIllinois's 7th congressional district since 1997. The district includes much of westernChicago, as well asthe Loop. It also encompasses several of Chicago's inner western suburbs, such asBellwood,Oak Park, andRiver Forest. Davis is aDemocrat, a member of theCongressional Black Caucus,^[1][2] and a former member of theDemocratic Socialists of America (DSA).^[3]

On July 31, 2025, Davis announced he will not seek reelection to Congress in2026.^[4]

Davis was born inParkdale, Arkansas, and educated at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College (now theUniversity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; B.A. inhistory, 1961),Chicago State University (M.S. inguidance, 1968), and theUnion Institute & University inCincinnati, Ohio (Ph.D. inpublic administration, 1977).^[5]

Davis worked as a government clerk, a high school teacher, executive director of the Greater Lawndale Conservation Commission, director of training at the Martin L. King Neighborhood Health Center, and executive director of the Westside Health Center before entering politics. He represented Chicago's 29th Ward on theChicago City Council from 1979 to 1990.^[6]

Davis challenged U.S. RepresentativeCardiss Collins in Democratic primaries in 1984 and 1986, but lost both races.In 1990, he unsuccessfully challenged incumbentEdward J. Rosewell for the Democratic nomination forCook County Treasurer. Alsoin 1990, Davis was elected to theCook County Board of Commissioners, serving from 1990 to 1996 before entering the House.^[7] Davis had also waged an unsuccessful campaign against Chicago MayorRichard M. Daley in the1991 Democratic mayoral primary.

Davis was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners from Chicago at-large in 1990. When the board transitioned to district elections in 1994,he was elected toits 1st district.

Entering Congress in 1997, Davis left the Cook County Board of Commissioners. He desired to seeIllinois State SenatorEarlean Collins appointed his successor on the board, but party leaders instead choseDarlena Williams-Burnett, executive assistant ofJesse White and the wife of aldermanWalter Burnett Jr. Collins challenged and unseated Williams-Burnett in the Democratic primary for the seatin 1998.^[8][9][10]

On December 6, 1995, Davis announced his candidacy for the7th congressional district, adding his name to the already announced Democratic candidates, including Alderman Percy Z. Giles, Cook County Board of Commissioners memberBobbie L. Steele, AldermanEd Smith, and AldermanDorothy Tillman.^[11] Five other Democratic candidates entered the race later: S. Mendenhall, Joan Sullivan, G. Winbush, Anthony Travis, and Joan Powell, making it the largest field of candidates for U.S. Congress in Illinois in 1996.^[12] Davis lived a block outside the district, but was familiar in it.^[13][14]

Davis ran on a progressive Democratic platform popular in the district. He waspro-choice and supportedgay rights, theERA,single-payer health care, and some federal support for child nutrition and care.^[13]

In early January 1996, theFBI revealed itsOperation Silver Shovel, which included an investigation into Alderman Giles.^[15] What Operation Silver Shovel may have done to undermine Giles's chances for election are unclear as he was already lagging with a mere 3% among likely Democratic primary voters in a mid-December poll compared to Davis's 33%, Smith's 8%, Tillman's 7%, and Steele's 6%.^[16] But Giles did have MayorRichard M. Daley's support and that of other well-known area figures—some of whom continued their support during the controversy.^[17]

On March 10, 1996, during a radio debate hosted byWMAQ-AM, Tillman and Smith called for Davis to reject the endorsement of former alderman candidate Wallace "Gator" Bradley,^[18] spokesman for convictedGangster Disciples leaderLarry Hoover.^[17] "Why do you keep badgering me with this question?" Davis replied. "You got a problem with something? You're not going to catch me going around saying I hate Gator Bradley. ... I'm not in the business of disavowing individuals. The good Lord said he hated sin, but not sinners. I'm not hating Gator Bradley. I disagree with those who commit crime and those who'd use drugs, but you won't catch me going around saying that I hate Gator Bradley."^[17] Davis never rejected Bradley's endorsement during the campaign, and after winning the primary claimed that Bradley's endorsement played no role in the outcome, though Bradley asserted the contrary.^[19]

During the campaign, Tillman highlighted comments Davis made in an August 1970 issue ofEbony: "[T]he white female often gives the black man certain kinds of recognition that the black woman often does not give him."^[20] The Davis campaign countered that Davis was speaking as apsychologist in his role as a training director at a health center.^[20]

Although Davis was fully promoted as a Democratic candidate, he also ran as aNew Party candidate.^[21][22][23] Supporting this was New Party's celebration of him as the "first New Party member elected to the U.S. Congress."^[24] Although the State of Illinois did not permit fusion voting, New Party advocated it as a means to promote itself and its agenda and to project New Party ideology into the Democratic Party.^[25] Candidates were called "N[ew]P[arty] Democrats"^[25] and required to sign a contract mandating a "visible and active relationship" with New Party.^[26] During this time, New Party was experiencing substantial growth.^[27] Davis was also endorsed by the ChicagoDemocratic Socialists of America (CDSA),^[28] of which he had been a member^[29][30] since before his congressional run.^[31]ACORN,AFL–CIO,Sierra Club, and theInternational Brotherhood of Teamsters also endorsed Davis.^[32]

In the March 20 Democratic primary, Davis received more votes than the two closest candidates, Tillman and Smith, combined.^[12] The first five announced candidates all received more than twice as many votes as the five late-entering candidates, with none of the latter receiving more than 2,700.^[12]

In the November 5 general election,Davis defeatedRepublicanRandy Borow and third-party candidates Chauncey L. Stroud (Independent), Toietta Dixon (Libertarian), and Charles A. Winter (Natural Law) with over 82% of the vote.^[33]

Davis expressed interest in replacingJohn Stroger on the ballot in the 2006 race for President of the Cook County Board.^[34] Stroger's sonTodd Stroger was ultimately selected.

In late 2008, Davis expressed interest in being PresidentBarack Obama's replacement in theU.S. Senate beforeIllinois GovernorRod Blagojevich'sscandal erupted.^[35] In a December 31, 2008,New York Times article, Davis said that he turned down an offer from Blagojevich's representatives to appoint him to the Senate.^[36] Instead, Blagojevich appointedRoland Burris.^[37]

Davis ran for mayor of Chicago a second timein 2011, but withdrew before the election and endorsedCarol Moseley Braun.^[38]

In the2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Davis endorsedKamala Harris.^[39] He later endorsedJoe Biden ahead of theIowa caucus.^[40][41]

In 2004, Davis was met with national controversy when he crowned ReverendSun Myung Moon in areligious ceremony at theDirksen Senate Office Building honoring Moon.^[42][43] Moon declared himself theMessiah at the crowning ceremony, in which Davis appeared on the invitation as a sponsoring co-chair.^[43] Davis wore white gloves and carried the crown on a pillow to crown Moon and his wife "the King and Queen of Peace."^[44] Davis toldChristian Challenge that Moon's declaring himself the Messiah "was similar to a baseball team owner telling team members that 'we are the greatest team on earth'" before a game. Davis said the peace awards were to "recognize people for promoting peace. Of course the highest recognition goes to the highest promoter and the highest promoter is Reverend Moon, so they come up with something higher than the certificates and plaques that other folks get."^[43] Other lawmakers who attended included SenatorMark Dayton, RepresentativesRoscoe Bartlett andElijah Cummings, and former RepresentativeWalter Fauntroy. Key organizers of the event includedGeorge Augustus Stallings, Jr., a controversial formerCatholic priest who had been married by Moon, and Michael Jenkins, the president of theUnification Church of the United States at that time.^[45]

As the 15th most prolific traveler in Congress, Davis stirred up controversy by accepting a trip toSri Lanka in 2005 on behalf of theTamil minority there, paid for by theTamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as aterrorist organization for its use ofsuicide bombers andchild soldiers. Davis said that he was unaware that the Tigers were the source of the trip's funding.^[46]

Davis has said thatLouis Farrakhan, the leader of theNation of Islam who has attracted considerable controversy for hisanti-Semitic andhomophobic remarks, is an "outstanding human being" and that "I personally know him, I've been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him." In March 2018, Davis said: "The world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and theJewish question and his position on that and so forth. For those heavy into it, that's their thing, but it ain't my thing."^{[47][48][49][50]} Davis condemned Farrakhan's views later that month, saying, "So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion."^[51] He attended Farrakhan'sMillion Man March and was the only member of Congress to addressthe 20th anniversary of it.^[52][53]

For the119th Congress:^[54]

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Work and Welfare (Ranking Member)

• Black Maternal Health Caucus^[55]
• Congressional Equality Caucus^[56]
• Congressional Ukraine Caucus^[57]
• Regional Whip
• Chair of the Congressional Postal Caucus
• Caucus on Re-Entry (Co-Chair)^[58]
• Afterschool Caucuses^[59]
• Community Health Center's Caucus^[58]
• Congressional Arts Caucus^[60]
• Congressional Black Caucus^[58][61]
• Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys^[62]
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption^[63]
• Congressional Progressive Caucus^[58]
• Congressional Taiwan Caucus^[64]
• Congressional Sugar Caucus^[62]
• Equity Caucus^[58]
• Medicare for All Caucus^[58]
• Urban Caucus^[58]
• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans^[65]

Davis voted to provideIsrael with support following theHamas-led attack on Israel.^[66][67]

Davis voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.^[68]

Davis is married to Vera G. Davis. They have two children.^[96] Davis is a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity.^[97] He is notable for his support of theNational Federation of the Blind. He spoke at their 2004 and 2005 conventions.^{[citation needed]}

On November 18, 2016, Davis's 15-year-old grandson Javon Wilson was murdered while trying to break up a fight during a home invasion in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.^[98]

On March 30, 2017, Davis's 44-year-old son Stacey Wilson was found dead in his home. He was Javon Wilson's father.^[99]

Davis is aBaptist.^[100]

• List of African-American United States representatives

• BuzzFlash Interview: Congressman Danny Davis April 2001

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