When Parielle Davis first stepped into the 7th Ward race, community activist and real estate broker Mary Rosinski said she heard some community members were worried about weakness behind Davis’ soft spoken, quiet demeanor.
Rosinski’s response to these doubts was the opposite: stark confidence in Davis’ ability to represent her ward. Rosinski had previously placed a bid for the seat, but backed out of the race and endorsed Davis.
“Don’t underestimate people who speak quietly, because she’s like a willow tree,” Rosinski said. “She bends, she listens. She’s soft-spoken, but she’s strong and she’s resilient, and that’s what we need.”
Davis’ quiet voice became a rallying cry among 7th Ward residents sympathetic to her past advocacy, including her leadership in the Most Livable City Association, which opposes the commercial rezoning of Ryan Field.
Davis now appears to have won her bid in the 7th Ward race with about 58% of votes, according to unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s office Sunday. While Davis has claimed victory, her opponent Kerry Mundy, a former naval officer and retail equities trader, has yet to release an official statement.
Davis ran to fill the seat vacated by Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th), who announced her retirement from the role last fall.
As she looks to take her spot on the dais, Davis brings a history of local political organization and grassroots support, to which she attributes her victory on April 1.
Davis, a 31-year-old mother of two young children, software engineer and attorney, first moved to Evanston from Chicago in 2020 to seek quality education for her children. Since then, she has founded Black Residents of Evanston, acted as vice president of MLCA and chaired the Better than Biss committee in opposition to Mayor Daniel Biss’ tie-breaking vote in favor of Ryan Field’s commercial rezoning.
In her upcoming term, she said she wishes to foster dialogue with 7th Ward residents by hosting community meetings to discuss the ward’s most pressing concerns, including preparations for Ryan Field’s commercialization, school consolidations and small business revitalization.
“Change is always scary for people and always brings a lot of uncertainty,” Davis said. “And so the best way to introduce change is with notice and slowly give people the ability to warm up to any new idea.”
Davis’ resident-oriented priorities had been a part of her political platform since her days in MLCA, through which she fought for a comprehensive community benefits agreement for Evanston residents in the stadium rebuild and rezoning.
MLCA co-founder and President David DeCarlo supports Davis’ analytical approach to politics, saying that it will cut through City Council’s “pie in the sky” controversies. MLCA endorsed Davis in the race.
7th Ward resident Sonia Cohen, who voted for Davis, said Davis’ involvement in the Ryan Field negotiations and her understanding of its impacts has driven up her grassroots support.
“There’s a level of distrust and division in Evanston, particularly in the 7th Ward,” Cohen said. “(We have) a lot of questions of who will stand for residents versus more corporate interests and university interests, and so a lot of people got very active in her campaign, because she is one of us.”
Some residents were also particularly drawn to Davis’ professional background, including her technological and data skills as a Google software engineer. According to her campaign website, Davis advocates for a more data-driven approach to help resolve the city’s most critical issues, which she said include city-wide rezoning and greater housing affordability under Envision Evanston 2045.
Her outlook brings comfort to Rosinski, who said it will guide and help assess the city’s current policy goals.
“I think that she will ask for the data before making decisions,” Rosinski said. “I think she’ll ask questions that need to be asked, because that’s how good governments are brought.”
Cohen also said she hoped Davis’ understanding of the law would promote a greater standard of transparency and rule-following in the city, including a stricter adherence to city ordinances and the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
Davis’ campaign mobilized Northwestern students for Evanston politics, including through campaign and academic events on campus. The Davis campaign’s chief of staff, Weinberg senior Sanjana Rajesh, a former Daily staffer, emphasized Davis’ interpersonal connections with voters during events on the NU campus, where she offered personal advice to students seeking careers in tech and law.
“She wanted to help them personally, it wasn’t just invested in them as, like, ‘Oh, you’re going to vote for me,’” Rajesh said.
DeCarlo also lauded Davis’ ability to engage with residents in local issues by clearly summarizing local issues and giving community members the opportunity to act.
Davis said she wants voters to feel heard and well-represented through her new directives on City Council and is open to any conversation.
“We have a lot of really brilliant people in our community, and so I can say this honestly, I don’t think anyone’s come to me with an idea (where) I was just like, ‘that’s a dumb idea.’” Davis said. “Even if we disagree, I can see how it is a solution.”
Email: MarisaGuerraEcheverria2027@u.northwestern.edu
Related Stories:
— ‘I was proud of the campaign I ran’: Shawn Iles to take office as 3rd Ward councilmember
— Parielle Davis leads 7th Ward City Council race
— 6th, 7th Ward candidates go deep on details, spare barbs during forum
