Garcia Lands Endorsement From Black Leaders

Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia got a big show of support Tuesday morning when approximately 100 African American leaders endorsed his bid for mayor.

Bobbie Steele, the former president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners called Garcia a "history maker and barrier breaker" during the morning announcement at a new Garcia for Mayor Office on the 6300 block of South Woodlawn Avenue.

"Chicago has the potential to become an even greater city," Garcia said. "I thank you for your show of support."

Garcia, who currently represents the 7th District of Cook County, on Monday accused Mayor Rahm Emanuel of breaking a campaign promise to hire more police officers and failing to adequately protect citizens.

"The people of Chicago have suffered through over 10,000 shootings over a four-year span," Garcia said at a City Hall press conference.

Garcia also publicly accused the Emanuel Administration of "fudging" crime statistics to "paint a rosy picture."

Hours later, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy called the allegations "nonsense" and said smarter policing was behind the data that showed Chicago could end 2014 with the fewest homicides since 1965.

Garcia has previously picked up endorsements from Cook County Clerk David Orr, from Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, and from ATU Local 308, the Chicago Transit Authority's largest union. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}