State Rep. Mary Flowers
As State Representative for the 31st District, Flowers, since the years when Ronald Reagan was president, has made mincemeat of her opponents at the polls during the Democratic Primary and the General Election. Flowers has never lost an election in 40 years. She has been reelected 19 times.
Flowers has been serving her district since Chicago Mayor Harold Washington was in office.
In 1985, she began her long career when she was elected to the 31st District. In 1992, Flowers was elected to the 21st District. In 2003, she was elected to the 31st District, where she currently serves. Today she is part of an old political establishment that goes back to the days of former House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Despite criticism, at the election polls, Flowers is a beast. She smashes her opponents with extremely high winning percentages. Opponents rarely challenge Flowers twice after losing to her the first time. And many times, no one dared to run against her.
When she switched gears and ran for the 21st District in the early years of her career, Flowers beat opponents with the same dominance she achieved in the 31st District. On election night, Flowers would usually wait just 15 minutes after the polls closed to learn that she had bagged another victory.
Everyone knows Illinois State Representative Flowers. She has loyal voters who stick with her the way Blacks in Chicago and Cook County rallied around former Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown when she was attacked by the political establishment and unions.
As Flowers remains under attack by the Democratic political establishment in Springfield, her voters may come to her rescue as they have since 1984.
But on March 19, Flowers faces an opponent who seeks to snap her winning streak in the Democratic Primary and pluck her from 31st District in the Illinois House of Representatives.
His name is Dr. Michael Crawford. He’s an educator with lots of campaign cash. Few voters know him. His biggest weapon is House Speaker Chris Welch, who’s embroiled in a nasty battle to oust Flowers from the Illinois General Assembly because of her alleged unprofessional conduct towards House staffers.
Welch believes he can end Flowers’s 40-year political career with an educator that few voters know about and one who has no political experience.
A Crusader review of Flowers’ winning record in the past 19 Democratic Primaries indicates Dr. Crawford doesn’t stand a chance against the political veteran.
In every political race Flowers has entered, she has beaten her opponent on average by nearly 76 percent of the vote. Flowers is so intimidating that she ran unopposed for 16 years between 2000 to 2016. Overall, she went unopposed 13 times in 19 Democratic primaries.
Flowers’ most crushing victory came in 1998 when she beat Democrat opponent Diana Haywood by grabbing a whopping 99.6 percent of the vote in the Primary.
In the 2018 election for the 31st District, Flowers beat Willie Preston by taking 83 percent of the vote. Instead of a rematch, Preston ran for the Illinois 16th District, where he currently serves as State Representative.
In 2020, Flowers trounced Democratic opponent Samantha Thompson, taking nearly 72 percent of the vote.
Flowers’ lowest victory margin occurred in 1992 where she won nearly 62 percent of the vote in the race for Illinois’ 21st District. That victory margin is still impressive, considering that Flowers ran against four opponents with the second-place candidate grabbing just 14 percent of the vote.
In 1990, Flowers crushed four opponents by taking over 77 percent of the vote. Her opponents included Monica F. Stewart and David Whitehead, Marvin S. Douglas Jr and Larry Williams.
“If you look at my legislative record when I ran unopposed, I was more focused without having to concentrate on my opponent,” Flowers told the Crusader. “I don’t think I have ever taken my seat for granted. When I look back at the things I’ve done, there was always something to do.”
History has it that Flowers will do it again for a 20th time during the March 19 Democratic Primary, despite her opponent having five times as many campaign donations as Flowers. But those donations come from unions and that may hurt more than help Crawford. While he has the money and unions, Flowers has the name, track record and voter loyalty that may make Crawford another one of her statistics at the ballot box.
Crawford is backed by House Speaker Chris Welch. He has never served in any political office as he aims to unseat veteran state Representative Mary Flowers of the 31st District.
With no political experience, questions remain as to whether Crawford is qualified to represent a district that Flowers has served for nearly 40 years.
Little is known about Crawford and questions remain whether he’s fit to serve in the Illinois General Assembly given his lack of experience.
He has never served in any political position on the city, county, state or federal level. But with just over two weeks left before the Primary, the political rookie has collected over $1.2 million in campaign donations, the majority of which has come from union organizations, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Flowers has over $180,000, campaign records show.
A longtime advocate for legislation that supports children, families and healthcare, Flowers has served on many committees in the Illinois Assembly. Last year, criminal justice advocates praised her for sponsoring a bill that would eliminate caps for wrongfully convicted individuals trying to obtain increased monetary compensation from the state after spending decades in prison.
Currently, wrongfully convicted individuals who spent five years or less in prison receive from the Illinois Court of Claims a maximum of $85,350. Innocent individuals who were locked up between five and 14 years would get $170,000. Wrongfully convicted individuals who spent more than 14 years in prison would receive $199,150.
Under Flowers’ House Bill 1016, Illinois will remove these caps and replace them with arbitrary awards with guaranteed and fixed award amounts of $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, including pretrial incarceration or detention while awaiting trial; along with $25,000 per year wrongfully spent not incarcerated but on parole, on probation, or on a sex offender registry.
That means former inmate Roosevelt Myles, who was wrongfully convicted and finally exonerated in 2022 after spending 28 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, would get at least $1.4 million in compensation. Under the current law, Myles would get just $199,150 for his wrongful conviction claim.
Flowers pushed the legislation last year and the bill remains in the Illinois Senate.
With her decades of political experience, it’s uncertain whether Dr. Crawford can match Flowers’ qualifications. Should Crawford win, in his freshman term he would likely not hold any committee positions that helped Flowers serve her district over the years.
Questions remain about why House Speaker Welch would back a political newcomer rather than an experienced candidate who is politically savvy enough to fight effectively for the 31st District.
According to his website, Crawford promised to improve education, promote women’s rights, health care access, economic development and public safety for the district.
Crawford is the campus dean at The Chicago School. Previously, he dedicated over a decade to the City Colleges of Chicago, holding leadership roles at Daley College, Kennedy-King College, and the district office. He also served at Northern Illinois, Chicago State, and Benedictine Universities, respectively.
Crawford graduated from Lane Technical High School, before earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University. He obtained an MBA at Saint Xavier University and a PhD in Higher Education Leadership at Concordia University Chicago.
Crawford lives in Wrightwood on the South Side with his wife and 6-year-old twins.
As a candidate for the 31st District, Crawford said he will advocate for fully funded public schools and more support for diverse learners. Crawford said he will advocate to ensure a full cadre of support staff, including counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses.
He promised to help protect a woman’s right to choose in Illinois, no matter what the Supreme Court or extreme politicians in Washington do. Dr. Crawford said he will fight to reduce prescription drug costs and focus on job creation in the district.
