Voters will decide between Thaddeus Jones and newcomer Gloria White

Standing between Democratic state Rep. Thaddeus Jones and the eighth-term representing the 29th Assembly District in Springfield is Democratic candidate and financial consultant Gloria K. White, who hopes south suburban voters want a change in leadership.

Jones, who is also mayor of Calumet City, has won six of the previous seven elections by more than 25 percentage points and enjoys the name recognition and fundraising benefits that come with being an incumbent.

White said he hopes his 25-year experience as a payroll specialist at FedEx and his role as a Thornton Schools Trustee will help inform legislation affecting residents.

“We have to start somewhere and make changes,” White said Thursday. “I want our society to be better”

White said when he knocked on the doors of residents of the skinny 29th District, which stretches from Chatham through the southern suburbs to Kankakee County, he heard voters expressing a desire for a change in leadership. He said they were fed up with Jones, whose political career was under scrutiny

Chicago Tribune found While serving as a state representative, Jones chose to give $150,000 in state funding to a mentoring program in which his son was both mentor and mentee. Jones defended the program and said his son was not paid for his work on the program.

There is federal investigation allowed him to use campaign finance funds. The emails also included city officials aware of the poor state of city pumps A year ago, floods damaged houses in the city.

Jones, through a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed by the Daily Southtown and said he would send a written statement. On Friday, the spokesman said Jones decided not to make any statement.

During the current legislative session, Jones introduced two bills: one to create a violence reduction task force and another to require electric utilities to create employment training centers.

White said he ran because he felt Jones had let residents down as a person and as a leader.

“For too long, many of our residents have not known what a state representative does, let alone who our state representative is,” he said.

On her website and in her advertisements, White lists protecting women’s reproductive rights, slowing climate change, and protecting human rights as her biggest concerns.

But when pressed to offer more specific policy plans, White did not specify any legislation he would propose.

“I suddenly can’t think about it right now,” he said. “This is too much for me. “I am learning a lot.”

He also did not identify any votes Jones cast or a bill with which he disagreed. When the Illinois General Assembly website showed pending legislation, White said Jones had recently agreed to all the bills he had sponsored.

hsanders@chicagotribune.com