All Articles Tagged "mayoral race"
‘We Will Prevail,’ Rahm Says after Booted off Ballot
(Chicago Sun Times) — Rahm Emanuel was thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago Monday by an appellate court panel. But Emanuel — who has led the other candidates in fund-raising and in public opinion polls — cautioned he won’t get off the ballot without a fight. “I have no doubt, at the end we will prevail at this effort,” Emanuel told reporters at the Berghoff Restaurant. The Chicago Board of Elections planned to start printing ballots without Emanuel’s name unless Emanuel’s lawyers can get a “stay” of the appellate court ruling. Emanuel’s lawyers filed their request for a stay just before 5 p.m. Monday.
Mayoral Candidates Raced to Raise Funds Before New Limits Kicked in
(Chicago Tribune) — In the waning days of December, Chicago mayoral candidates rushed to fill their campaign coffers with high-dollar contributions before they would become illegal. Tapped for donations during the furious spree of fundraising were movers and shakers likely to seek a piece of the next city government, state records show. Leading the way in the dash for cash was front-running mayoral contender Rahm Emanuel, who raised more than $1.4 million in the final 10 days of last year alone. About $1.2 million of that haul would have violated the new state law limiting campaign contributions if the donations had been made after the first of the year.
Business, Hollywood Big Shots Help Stock Emanuel’s War Chest
(Chicago Sun Times) — Rahm Emanuel took in an eye-popping $11.7 million for his Chicago mayoral campaign in just three months, notching big contributions from Chicago’s business community, Hollywood heavyweights and other out-of-state donors. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange gave Emanuel $200,000, records released Thursday show. He also took in $100,000 apiece from wealthy Chicago businessmen James Crown and Fred Eychaner, plus another $100,000 from Hollywood mogul David Geffen, $75,000 from film director Steven Spielberg and $50,000 from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Mayoral Hopeful Watkins: Let Me Be Heard
(Chicago Sun Times) — Mayoral candidate Patricia Van Pelt Watkins had one question at the end of her interview with the Sun-Times editorial board: “Can you all get me into the debates?” No, she was told, the Sun-Times has no control over the television stations and public-interest groups holding the mayoral debates. Watkins, a community organizer, has struggled to get the same attention as the four candidates for mayor who have held elected or appointed public office.
Candidates Converge on the South Side
(Chicago Sun Times) — Mayoral candidates hit the South Side hard Sunday, attending church services and events. Gery Chico and Miguel del Valle showed up a South Side advocacy group’s public meeting and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration to show their support for a building ordinance that would promote the upkeep of foreclosed and other vacant properties. The Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation got the candidates to commit to signing the ordinance if elected. The ordinance, introduced by Ald. Pat Dowell in July, would require banks and speculators who own five or more vacant buildings to put down a $10,000 bond for each building and increases fines to $5,000 per day for properties not properly maintained.
Watkins Hopes Smaller Field Means More Notice in Mayoral Race
(Chicago Tribune) — Patricia Watkins is not a “name brand” candidate in the race for Chicago mayor, but now that the field has been narrowed to six, the longtime community activist hopes to get more attention. ”I’m not a run-of-the-mill candidate, but I didn’t come out of nowhere,” said Watkins, 53, a Pentecostal minister. “I was never given any consideration because there were so many name brands in the race.” In a race still dominated by household names, including former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Watkins has found it difficult to get her message to register. Her work on the West and South sides tells her the city’s problems — crime, failing schools and struggling neighborhoods — are not “high-level issues, they are grass roots.”
Hudson Headlines Emanuel Fundraiser
(Chicago Tribune) — Jennifer Hudson headlined a fundraising concert for mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel tonight at the House of Blues. He introduced the Chicago native, Academy Award winner and new face of Weight Watchers, but Emanuel did not appear on stage with Hudson. She wore a svelte black dress and opened the brief show with her hit single “Spotlight.” Tickets to the sold-out fundraiser cost from $30 to $500, according to the campaign, and more than 1,200 people were expected to attend.
Braun’s Team Ends Holdout, Takes Tax Questions
(Chicago Tribune) — Days after declaring there would be no more “drilling down” on several years of her federal income tax returns, mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun put her lawyers and accountant before the news media Monday to address money questions that have hounded her for a week. Braun’s financial advisers offered additional information about her CMB One Corp., which they described as the overarching company she has set up to handle everything from her public speaking income to her fledgling organic foods business. They acknowledged that undisclosed details of the company’s organization may have contributed to confusion over how Braun has paid her bills while repeatedly showing losses and little income.
Class Warfare Permeates Mayoral Race
(Chicago Tribune) — Money matters in politics, but in the race for Chicago mayor, another valued commodity is the ability to claim a connection to working-class neighborhoods of bungalows and grit — true or otherwise. And so Miguel del Valle, the current Chicago city clerk, the other day proclaimed himself “the poorest candidate” in the race, a comment directly referring to his lack of fundraising prowess but also underscoring modest personal finances. Rival Carol Moseley Braun, the former U.S. senator, has sought to spin a storyline about her chronic financial woes by portraying herself as a typical small-business owner laboring under a tough economy.
Judge: Emanuel Stays on Ballot
(Chicago Sun Times) — Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel meets the residency requirement to run for mayor of Chicago and will remain on the Feb. 22 ballot, a Cook County judge ruled Tuesday. In a ruling issued early Tuesday afternoon, Cook County Circuit Judge Mark Ballard upheld an earlier ruling by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners that Emanuel — despite having lived in Washington, D.C. for the past two years — is eligible to run. Emanuel doesn’t need to prove he had a “place to sleep” in Chicago to prove he “resided” here, Ballard wrote. Burt Odelson, the attorney who went to court seeking to oust Emanuel from the ballot, argued that because Emanuel rented his house out to Rob and Lori Halpin — unlike President Obama and senior advisor David Axelrod — he had no place to sleep in the city.
