* Sun-Times…

His grief is heavy — “the pain is excruciating” — but activist Ra Joy said he chose to run on Democrat Chris Kennedy’s gubernatorial ticket to turn his pain into “purpose.”

Kennedy officially announced Joy — the executive director for Change Illinois — as his running mate on Thursday. The non-partisan group most recently helped push for automatic voter registration, which Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed into law. Joy issued his resignation from the advocacy group on Wednesday.

Joy’s 23-year-old son Xavier was gunned down in June in Woodlawn by someone trying to steal his cell phone. His son had chosen to do a year of service in his hometown, spending an AmeriCorp “City Year” on the South and West sides. […]

“He loved Chicago, and he worked on both the South and West sides of the city,” Joy, 44, said. “Part of me, I didn’t want him here. I did not want him here because the risk is just too much. And he wanted to be here.” […]

Kennedy said he was considering Joy for the ticket as early as March, but after Xavier Joy’s death, Kennedy held off on his decision out of respect to the family.

Violence aside, Kennedy said he chose Joy as his running mate after speaking with a group of activists in a Bronzeville apartment who said they were so discouraged about President Donald Trump’s presidency that they didn’t plan to vote.

* Tribune…

The pairing of Kennedy and Joy, an African-American who is executive director of Change Illinois, brings a heightened focus on the issue of crime to the Democratic governor primary campaign. Their personal losses also could resonate with families in South and West Side neighborhoods afflicted by the gun violence that has racked Chicago. […]

Joy said “for some people, there’s such a steady drumbeat around crime and violence that it’s become normalized.”

Kennedy, though, bristled when asked if the city’s gun violence was a new normal.

“Hell no. Don’t even think like that. No. Absolutely not,” he said. Instead, Kennedy said of he and his running mate’s experiences with gun violence: “We’re not unique.”

* NBC 5…

Reports have surfaced over the last few days that several candidates turned down Kennedy’s offer to join the ticket, but the candidate insists that Joy was in the mix from the very beginning.

“Ra was there right from the beginning,” Kennedy said. “He was on the first list I ever made.” […]

“I have lots of executive experience leading statewide organizations,” he said. “I’m ready to lead on day one.”

While most political experts will argue that the lieutenant governor’s pick does not make or break a campaign, the choice does send a signal, according to political strategiest Ron Holmes.

“It is my hope that these picks aren’t simply ‘window dressing’ and are the beginning of specific policies regarding black Illinoisians,” he said in a tweet.

* ABC 7…

Kennedy said Joy will be a key asset in getting voters, particularly millennials, involved.

“They need somebody who has a proven track record of standing of up to corrupt government…there aren’t many of those in Illinois…he is a citizen servant,” said Kennedy.

* CBS 2…

Joy said Kennedy’s commitment to attacking violence, and reforming Illinois government, attracted him to Kennedy’s team.

“We have a system where a really small handful of political insiders wield disproportionate power and influence,” Joy said.

Joy was formerly executive director of Change Illinois, which scored a major victory when Governor Rauner signed automatic voter registration for licensed drivers.

“I have proven experience forging alliances, building partnerships and creating wins,” he said.

Kennedy and his supporters see his running mate selection as an opportunity to re-energize his campaign and underline his self-styled image as an outsider challenging the status quo.

* WGN TV…

This new team plans to talk extensively about curbing Chicago’s gun violence problem. Kennedy has called for up to 2,000 more cops in the city. Asked how he’ll pay for it, Kennedy says, “Why doesn’t Rahm raise the taxes on the people who aren’t paying their fair share? Why doesn’t he sue like Mayor Daley did all of the big buildings in undervalue complaints.”

It’s that kind of talk, an anti-establishment, populace message, that Kennedy is running on. But the campaign has struggled to keep up with billionaire J.B. Pritzker’s fundraising and spending. Even State Senator Daniel Biss outraised Kennedy during the second quarter of this year.

“I don’t feel any need to turn things around. I like where I am,” Kennedy says. “The only way for the well-funded campaigns and the insiders to win in March is to get me to drop out now. So they work people like you with a whole army of communications people that they pay out of the $20 million in expenditures. (They) tell you that the campaign’s in disarray, people are leaving, changes are coming, that I’m about to drop out. None of that is true. I’m the smallest of seven brothers. They’re going to have to swing a lot harder than this.”

During the campaign, Kennedy has focused on Illinois’ extremely high property taxes, saying the system is “rigged” in favor of the wealthy and connected. This summer, the businessman reportedly withdrew his own property tax appeal on his Kenilworth residence. We asked Kennedy about the situation, and he used his answer to lash out at Pritzker.

“There’s no comparison to what all of the people who appeal their property taxes in Cook County do and what J.B. Pritzker did. There’s no comparison between the two,” Kennedy says.

His rhetoric is definitely getting more pointed as we move along.