Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has received support from N'DIGO founder Hermene Hartman in her uphill fight to remain in office, while other Black candidates have criticized the endorsement.

Hartman advocated for Lightfoot in a piece published Feb. 14 by N'DIGO. Businessman and fellow candidate Willie Wilson, however, criticized N'DIGO's support for Lightfoot. 

"I think it's an insult to the African American community," Wilson, who himself was endorsed on Feb. 16 by the Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce, told ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

Hartman is one of the few Black women in publishing, establishing N'DIGO in 1989. According to The History Makers, Hartman rose to prominence for her publisher's page, which comments on issues affecting the African-American community. Since 1977, Hartman has also successfully run The Hartman Group, a public relations firm. She has a MBA from the University of Illinois and master's degrees in sociology and educational philosophy.

"The Chicago mayoral race of 2023 is historic. Have we ever had so many candidates in the race? There should be candidate limits," Hartman wrote in the piece. "The mayoral race has nine candidates. Too many. There are aldermen, a congressman, a businessman, a state representative, a Cook County board commissioner and a community organizer. There are two women and seven men. There is one white candidate, one Latino candidate and seven Black candidates. Diversity and democracy are working. The Black vote will be split rather than united, causing voter confusion and disrupting the power structure."

Others in the media, however, downplayed the endorsement.

"A below-the-fold endorsement, but that matters when you have a race as close as the mayor’s race for that second spot in particular, and you have so many Black candidates -- seven,” Dan Proft said on "Chicago’s Morning Answer."

In the end, some worry that the fight among Black candidates could have unintended consequences, according to Proft.

"Because N'DIGO, which is a Black-owned media outlet, and Hermene Hartman, who’s the publisher, has a long standing in the Black community. Everybody knows who she is. And so when she came out with her endorsement for Lori Lightfoot yesterday, saying that she was the only Black candidate who could win, that she’s concerned about the Black candidates splitting the Black vote and not having a Black mayor after April 4 election."

Proft noted that Wilson had taken umbrage with the endorsement, saying, "Lori Lightfoot essentially is the only candidate who can’t win (among) the Black candidates."