Chicago

Cook County GOP Endorses Chicago Mayoral Candidate

Nearly six out of 10 voters said the city is on the wrong track, again with more women than men disenchanted.

Cook County Republicans endorsed a candidate, a lawsuit was filed against another mayoral hopeful and there are some last minute jabs.

It's all part of the Chicago mayor's race with the most crowded field ever.

The Chicago election is non partisan -- no one declares their party. There will likely be a runoff of the top two if no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote. While the majority of Chicago voters are Democrats -- there are Republican votes out there.

Willie Wilson has said he welcomes all votes, and Thursday he received the endorsement of the Cook County Republican party who spoke to six of the 14 candidates before choosing Wilson.

"Dr. Wilson is certainly in a one, two or three position, and here’s the deal we have identified and have for like 90 days now, 38,000 plus city of Chicago," Sean Morrison of the Cook County GOP said.

Paul Vallas had questions for Bill Daley. He says Morgan Chase, where Daley was midwest chairman, benefited from the city's parking meter deal -- an allegation Daley flatly denies.

"The city has lost 70 percent of its property value, and we’re going to elect Daley?" Vallas asked. "We’re going to elect another Daley? Think about that for a second, with more conflicts of interest than we can shake a stick at."

Gery Chico says he will make sure to those unable to pay their water bills will have relief.

"If you look at the electric and the gas companies, they have a low income assistance program, we don't have such a thing for the Chicago water department," he said. "And water is no more or less important than electricity or gas. Try going two weeks without using water."

And finally, a lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Amara Enyia's former communications director Kristi Kucera. She's suing Enyia to get paid $24,000 she says is owed to her. Enyia says Kucera was a volunteer. Kucera says that's not true and she filed her lawsuit after Enyia refused to respond.

"I'm a reasonable person, I had hoped we could work something out quietly, I absolutely didn’t want it to get to this point," Kucera said.

The race for mayor of Chicago has turned into a five-person dash to the finish, according to results of an exclusive Telemundo Chicago/NBC 5 poll.

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