State Sen. the Rev. James Meeks announced Dec. 23 that he is dropping out of the race for Chicago mayor.
Meeks asked the other African-American candidates in the race to also withdraw their candidacies so they can submit to a "caucus of clergy, elected officials, and residents whose sole purpose shall be to winnow the remaining field down to one candidate," according to ABC7Chicago.com .
He also commented on his perception that relatively few African Americans receive city contracts: "Our city's leadership seems to be color-blind; in my judgment, they simply do not seem to notice people of color. We are overlooked and under-represented." Meeks generated controversy last week when he implied that minority contracts should only go to companies owned by African Americans, the Huffington Post reported. He then said that the city's set-asides should not go to "white women."
The development occurred the day after Meeks, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis met privately to unite behind a consensus Black mayoral candidate, according to a separate Sun-Times piece.
Within the LGBT community, Meeks has had a turbulent history. He has spoken out against homosexuality, and voted against the civil-unions bill that the Illinois General Assembly recently passed. However, he has reached out to the community in recent months.