Early voting has begun and election day in the Chicago mayor's race is February 24th. If no one gets a majority there will be a runoff April 7. The hope is that progressive reformers Chuy Garcia and Robert Fioretti will hold the much-disliked Emanuel under the 50% mark and force the runoff. Most polling indicates that Emanuel's support is in the low 40s.This week, former Mayor Richard Daley endorsed Rahm Emanuel for reelection. And next Thursday, President Obama will be in Chicago stomping for his former chief of staff. Friday, the African-American weekly, Chicago Defender, endorsed him. His record of failure and corruption doesn't seem as present in the minds of many voters as these kinds of political cupie dolls.This week the International Business Times reported that Emanuel's campaign donors were getting shadowy no-bid contracts from Chicago. Tens of millions of dollars have gone to Emanuel allies, who have contributed over $775,000 to his campaign, under very suspicious circumstances. And this comes after the revelations that Emanuel had tried to exempt financial firms from ethics laws.Blue America has endorsed Chuy Garcia as the best alternative against another Emanuel term. If you'd like to contribute to his campaign, you can do that here. They are in need of money for their Get Out The Vote operations which are kicking into high gear now. Another progressive group standing up against Emanuel's corrupt corporate governance is DFA and yesterday their president, Jim Dean, sent a letter to all their members reminding them of the importance of this race:
A critical election in the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party is just days away in Chicago. That's where one of the leading members of the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party-- Mayor Rahm Emanuel-- is waging war against seven progressive incumbents on the Chicago City Council.It's not the first time Rahm Emanuel has done battle against progressives. This time, he’s hoping to roll back the progressive tide that has risen in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. While progressive policies are stalled in Congress and in many state legislatures, cities have been the place where we've won important battles against those who are making income inequality worse.If Rahm Emanuel succeeds in defeating these seven progressive champions-- who we're calling the Chicago Seven-- it won't be bad news just for Chicago. It will be a sign to Wall Street wing Democrats across America that they can stop progressives even in our urban strongholds.Early voting in Chicago's election started on Monday. Election Day is just two weeks from today-- on Tuesday, February 24. And DFA is all-in, with our members on the ground in Chicago running phone banks and canvasses to fight back against Rahm Emanuel and re-elect these seven progressive Aldermen... Rahm's Super PAC, funded by his wealthy allies, is spending millions to spread smears and attacks on these progressive Aldermen....Since becoming mayor of Chicago in 2011, Rahm Emanuel has unleashed an unprecedented attack on working families, especially the poor and people of color, for the benefit of Wall Street.Here are just a few of the terrible things Rahm has done as mayor:• He closed more than 50 public neighborhood schools, primarily in African American and Latino neighborhoods.• He closed half of Chicago's public mental health clinics, leaving many of the poorest and most in need without access to quality, affordable care.• He attacked unions, including cutting pension benefits while using tax dollars for corporate subsidies.• He refused to hire more police officers to combat the city's crime problem, citing budgetary constraints.• He broke his promise of openness, fighting efforts at increased transparency, ignoring community input, and micro-managing the press.Seven Aldermen-- John Arena, Toni Foulkes, Leslie Hairston, Rick Munoz, Roderick Sawyer, Nick Sposato, and Scott Waguespack-- have taken the lead in fighting Rahm's corporate agenda. That's why Rahm is using millions of dollars in a Super PAC funded by large corporations and Wall Street hedge funders to try and defeat these seven progressive Aldermen.Rahm's goal: Replace the Chicago Seven with candidates who answer only to him and his wealthy backers, rather than to the people.Progressives across Chicago, especially the great leaders and activists at Northside DFA and Southside DFA, are mobilizing to stop Rahm Emanuel and support a progressive City Council. With DFA's national focus on defending the progressive champions already on the City Council, Northside and Southside DFA are working hard to elect more progressive Aldermen as challengers in important races. Together we can win a big progressive victory in Chicago over Rahm Emanuel and his wealthy allies.
Up top is the new TV ad from the Chuy Garcia campaign. It is positive and issue-oriented. Below is the ugly response from Emanuel's camp-- a typical vicious smear from a typical vicious politician: