Ford was born in Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing project. He grew up in the Austin community of Chicago. His family moved to the Austin community when he was two years old. Ford never met his father. His mother was an unwed teen, and he was adopted by his grandmother at birth. Ford grew up poor. Ford attended Lady Help of Christians Catholic Elementary School and graduated from Weber High School. Initially, after high school, Ford attended the Niles College Seminary at Loyola University in Chicago contemplating becoming a priest. Ford ultimately received a bachelor of arts in elementary education from Loyola, with a minor in political science. He played basketball while at Loyola. He also received a degree from University of Illinois at Chicago. Ford became a history teacher and basketball coach for Chicago Public Schools. Later he became a licensed Illinois real estate broker, and became the founder of Ford Desired Real Estate in 2001. He has served as a member of the Chicago and National Association of Realtors, board member of the Austin YMCA, board member of Circle Family Care, board member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, founding organizer of Zawadi Youth Group, and member of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church Parish Council and Finance Committee. Ford worked as a Democratic precinct captain in the neighborhood where he grew up.
Legislative career
Ford was first election in the 2006 general election, defeating incumbent Calvin Giles in the Democratic primary with 83% of the vote.
In the 100th Illinois General Assembly, Ford is the Chair two committees; Financial Institutions and Restorative Justice. Ford's committee assignments are: the Appropriations Committee on Elementary & Secondary Education; Appropriations Committee on Human Services; Higher Education; Insurance: Property & Casualty; Tourism, Hospitality & Craft Industries; and Veterans' Affairs. Ford is a member of the Medicaid Managed Care Oversight Task Force. To monitor how the State approaches and manages a new form of health care delivery system based on managed care models, particularly for people with disabilities and the elderly. He is also a member of the Violence Prevention Task Force. The Violence Prevention Task Force seeks to increase awareness of resources, jobs, and opportunities to prevent violence and to assist violence prevention groups and other social institutions in providing safe places for those at risk of violence. From 2006 until 2012, Ford had received $16,350 in campaign contributions from labor unions. This included $3,000 from AFL-CIO, $2,650 from AFSCME, $200 from Illinois Education Association; $2,500 from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, $7,000 from the Chicago Teachers Union, $1,000 from Service Employees International Union.
2019 mayoral campaign
Ford ran for mayor of Chicago in 2019. After giving notice of a possible candidacy in late-September, Ford officially announced his candidacy on October 31, 2018, joining what was an already-crowded field of candidates seeking to replace Rahm Emanuel, who had announced in early September that he would not seek reelection. Candidate Willie Wilson challenged signatures on Ford's candidature petition, but the Chicago Board of Elections allowed Ford to remain on the ballot, finding that, "candidate Willie Wilson’s objection to his petitions was not made in good faith.” In the polls he was included in, Ford never placed higher than 2%, and most frequently placed around 1% support. Ford placed eleventh out of fourteen candidates, receiving just 5,606 votes in the initial round of the election.
Personal life
Ford has a daughter named Tia.
Legal issues
On November 29, 2012, Ford was indicted on charges of bank fraud, alleging he provided misleading evidence to obtain a $500,000 extension on a line of credit. The charges state he used the money for personal expenses rather than rehabilitating an owned property, as stated in the loan documentation. On August 4, 2014, all 17 felony counts of bank fraud and false information against Ford were dropped by federal prosecutors in exchange for his pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor income tax charge, and Ford's trial was removed from the federal docket.
