Daniel K. Davis (born September 6, 1941) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Illinois's 7th congressional district, elected in 1996.

He desired to see Illinois State Senator Earlean Collins appointed his successor on the board, but party leaders instead chose Darlena Williams-Burnett, executive assistant of Jesse White and the wife of alderman Walter Burnett Jr. Collins challenged and unseated Williams-Burnett in the Democratic primary for the seat in 1998.

[12] In early January 1996, the FBI revealed its Operation Silver Shovel, which included an investigation into Alderman Giles.

[14] What Operation Silver Shovel may have done to undermine Giles's chances for election are unclear as he was already lagging with a mere 3% among likely Democratic primary voters in a mid-December poll compared to Davis's 33%, Smith's 8%, Tillman's 7%, and Steele's 6%.

[16] On March 10, 1996, during a radio debate hosted by WMAQ-AM, Tillman and Smith called for Davis to reject the endorsement of former alderman candidate Wallace "Gator" Bradley,[17] spokesman for convicted Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover.

[24] Candidates were called "N[ew]P[arty] Democrats"[24] and required to sign a contract mandating a "visible and active relationship" with New Party.

[31] In the March 20 Democratic primary, Davis received more votes than the two closest candidates, Tillman and Smith, combined.

In the November 5 general election, Davis defeated Republican Randy Borow and third-party candidates Chauncey L. Stroud (Independent), Toietta Dixon (Libertarian), and Charles A.

[32]Davis expressed interest in replacing John Stroger on the ballot in the 2006 race for President of the Cook County Board.

In late 2008, Davis expressed interest in being President Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate before Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scandal erupted.

[34] In a December 31, 2008, New York Times article, Davis said that he turned down an offer from Blagojevich's representatives to appoint him to the Senate.

[36] Davis ran for mayor of Chicago a second time in 2011, but withdrew before the election and endorsed Carol Moseley Braun.

Key organizers of the event included George Augustus Stallings, Jr., a controversial former Catholic priest who had been married by Moon, and Michael Jenkins, the president of the Unification Church of the United States at that time.

[44] As the 15th most prolific traveler in Congress, Davis stirred up controversy by accepting a trip to Sri Lanka in 2005 on behalf of the Tamil minority there, paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers.

[45] Davis has said that Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who has attracted considerable controversy for his anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks, is an "outstanding human being" and that "I personally know him, I've been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him."

[57][58] Davis voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

[citation needed] On November 18, 2016, Davis's 15-year-old grandson Javon Wilson was murdered while trying to break up a fight during a home invasion in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.