Mayor Brandon Johnson, other Chicagoans attend White House state dinner

WASHINGTON – At a decorated pavilion on the South Lawn of the White House, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill hosted a state dinner on Thursday night for Kenyan President William Ruto and his wife, Rachel, with Mayor Brandon Johnson and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun among the Chicagoans at the gala.

Former President Barack Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, stopped by the event, with ex-President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Chicago native, also attending.

Johnson, dressed in a tuxedo, holding the hand of his wife, Stacie, in a gown with a sleeveless tuxedo top, walked through the Bookseller area of the White House, adorned with U.S. and Kenyan flags to get to the dinner.

Asked by reporters staking out Bookseller about the upcoming Democratic convention in Chicago this August, Johnson said, "The whole world is excited. The greatest city in the world."

The Chicago-area guests at the dinner included: Democrat Braun, the former U.S. senator from Illinois and U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, who was sworn in last month as the chair of the U.S. African Development Foundation. Her plus one was Souad Boudairi Dalil.

Bob Clark, the founder of Clayco Construction and his wife, Jane. Clark is a major donor and fundraiser for Biden and Obama. Biden appointed Clark to be the U.S. Commissioner General at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Sheila Nix, from Oak Park, is the campaign chief of staff for Vice President Kamala Harris, and her husband, James Coughlan.

Michael Polsky, the founder and CEO of Invenergy, a major donor to Democrats and Obama, with Emily Fleming. Helene Gayle, the former CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, now the president of Spelman College in Atlanta, and her husband, Stephen Keith.