Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart dropped out to spend time with his family. Rep. Luis Gutierrez wants to continue working for immigration reform. Alderman Bob Fioretti has throat cancer. State Sen. Rickey Hendon is just too colorful.
So who’s left in the mayor’s race? Here’s a list of the politicians we’re likely to see on the Feb. 22. It’s shorter and less distinguished than anyone expected.
Rahm Emanuel: Emanuel’s petition circulators are all over town, trying to collect the 12,500 signatures he needs to qualify for the ballot. I saw them at last Saturday’s Obama rally on the Midway Plaisance, and I saw them on Election Day, in front of the Loyola Park fieldhouse. They need to work hard, because most voters are either giving them a cold shoulder, or responding “Hell, no.” Emanuel only comes to Chicago when he’s looking for money or power. You know he didn’t quit his job at the White House just because he missed Hot Doug’s.
Carol Moseley Braun: Moseley Braun has not officially announced, but she’s on the front page of today’s Sun-Times, blaming Emanuel for the Democrats’ loss on Tuesday. Moseley Braun calls herself a “recovering politician,” but she has never recovered from losing her Senate seat to Peter Fitzgerald in 1998. She tried to get it back in 2004, but settled for a symbolic campaign for president after old supporters shunned her. Moseley Braun is now selling health food, so she has nothing better to do than run for mayor. We just hope she doesn’t make us call her “Ambassador.”
Gery Chico: Chico has done everything in City Hall except polish the elevators: he was Mayor Daley’s chief of staff, and he's run the school board, the park district and the city colleges. There’s nothing left to do but be mayor, is there? Thus far, Chico has run the most aggressive campaign of any contender. He has announced he will cut his the mayor’s pay by 20 percent, and require other city managers to do the same, as a first step to winning concessions from unions (As head of his own law firm, he doesn’t need the money). Has the support of Latino politicians Manny Flores and Joe Moreno.
Miguel del Valle: City Clerk del Valle was the first to announce his campaign for mayor, the first to run an ad, the first to put up a website, and the first to give Ward Room an interview. Del Valle has stated he plans to be less of a strong-arm mayor than Daley, asking the City Council to become more involved in writing the budget and deliberating important deals -- like selling the parking meters.
James Meeks: Meeks took a big step toward running for mayor this week when he declared he would give up the pulpit of his 20,000-member Salem Baptist Church if elected. That answered a concern of many voters that Meeks would mix religion and politics -- especially after the anti-gay pastor said he would only meddle with gay rights “if I was sitting around bored with nothing to do.” Meeks later met with gay leaders in Boystown, but his citywide appeal is suspect.
Chicago Politics
Danny Davis: The West Side congressman has not committed to a campaign, and said he wouldn’t run with the endorsement of the Chicago Coalition for Mayor, which is trying to choose a consensus African-American candidate. But today, Davis said he is “reconsidering” a run for mayor after his re-election to Congress.
That’s it, Chicago. The filing deadline is only 17 days away, too short a time to collect 12,500 challenge-proof signatures. One of these six will be our next mayor.
