Chico Eyes a Runoff

Fresh off a mayoral debate in which he reportedly participated with a 104 degree fever, Gery Chico is reaching a fever pitch on his poll numbers.

"There will be a runoff," Chico said during a stop at Moe's Cantina in Wrigleyville. "We've got April 5 circled on our calendar. There is no half way in this race."

Chico held an event at the North Side restaurant to discuss a plan for cutting through red tape for small businesses in Chicago.

He wasn't the only mayoral candidate talking like he had an ace up his sleeve. All the top candidates were out Friday beginning a furious final weekend as they push toward the February 22 election.

Carol Moseley Braun was equally as optimistic as Chico during a morning meet up with the press.

She said she's going to spend the final weekend continuing to spread her message of a unified Chicago, and about what a detriment Rahm Emanuel would be as a mayor. That's about as far as she would go on discussing her strategy for the final weekend.

"Things can change so quickly that you have to keep your strategy flexible," she said.

Miguel Del Valle held an event to discuss his plan for rebuilding Chicago's neighborhoods by empowering Chicago residents.

“The future of the City of Chicago should not be in the hands of one man, one Alderman, or even 50 Aldermen,” del Valle said at a press conference today at 1550 S Hamlin.  “The future should be in the hands of people living and working in the neighborhoods.”

Chico, Braun and Del Valle each needs to chip away at Rahm Emanuel's apparently insurmountable lead heading into Tuesday. Expect heated rhetoric, like the kind used in the debate, as the clock ticks down.

Emanuel, the front-runner himself, likely won't respond. 

Much like his demeanor during the debate, Emanuel was on message when he visited a new Aldi location on the South Side Friday to talk about the food desert problem.  He said if elected he would convene a meeting with the heads of local grocery stores make it clear that they need to move into impoverished neighborhoods.

Contact Us