Patriot Update

A white ex-congresswoman with an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association is the front-runner to replace former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in a majority-black Chicagoland district with inner-city neighborhoods wracked by gun violence.

At first glance, Debbie Halvorson should have no business winning the Feb. 26 special election. The former Democratic congresswoman was crushed by Jackson in a primary last year. She’s a white Democrat seeking to represent a district in which 54 percent of voters are African-American.

And she’s an unapologetic Second Amendment backer — with endorsements from the NRA in two of her previous congressional campaigns — despite an outpouring of concern among voters and her campaign rivals about gun violence.