Illinois Secretary of State Candidate Anna Valencia Dogged by Claims of Impropriety
Anna Valencia was made Chicago’s City Clerk in January of 2017 and was elected to a full term in 2019. She is now attempting to become Illinois’ Secretary of State. Valencia has significant support with endorsements from JB Pritzker, Tammy Duckworth, and Dick Durbin.
At the same time, Valencia’s campaign has been dogged by accusations of impropriety. She is married to entrepreneur Reyahd Kazmi. Valencia is accused of using her office to promote companies that do business with her husband.
According to WCIA in Champaign, “Over the course of several years, official and personal correspondence shows clear evidence that Valencia spent a significant portion of her time in office paving the way for projects that directly benefited her husband.”
This week, the New Orleans City Council president sent subpoenas seeking all documents featuring all communication between Valencia, Kazmi and his business partner George Burciaga.
Valencia denies the claims and responded, “My husband and I have separate careers. I’m very supportive of his, and he is of mine. He’s never lobbied my office and never will.”
Still the accusations aren’t going away. Valencia’s two opponents in the race for Secretary of State are Alexi Giannioulias and David Moore.
Moore said of the accusations against his opponent, “To use the city letterhead to help elevate it, that’s an ethical problem. And character and integrity are when people are not watching.”
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