The Mayoral Election next Tuesday is not in doubt, but the fate of the Mayor may depend on it anyway.
Mayor Daley is a good friend of President Bush and did nothing to help John Kerry in 2004 and little or nothing to help Dems running in three close races for Congress in the Suburbs in 2006. He has a huge machine of supporters and had he sent them to the suburbs we might have won in IL-06 and IL-10. But he didn’t. Republicans have no strength in Chicago; the contests are always between machine Dems and reform Dems.
For years, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has won everything. Elections. Bulldozing an airport in the middle of the night when he could not get permission to do so. Budgets approved unanimously. But that might not last much longer. Why? That, and a call for help, after the flop:
Daley’s strength has meant that aldermen (many are women but, oddly, the official title remains "alderman") long decided that if he is going to win everything, then if they work with him they will win all their elections. That has been a good plan, but "the times they are a changing". How so?
The big near defeat for Daley was the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance. That would have mandated something like $10 an hour, plus $3 for health benefits for workers at stores like Walmart and Home Depot. The campaign for the ordinance brought together unions, churches, community activists and small businesses. And it got two-thirds of the votes in the city council. Daley vetoed it and got a few aldermen to change their votes and the council was unable to override his veto. But it showed that Daley is now vulnerable, and so is anyone who marches lockstep with him.
There were supposed to be one or two high profile challengers to Daley this year: Congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr. and/or Congressman Luis Gutierrez. But when the Dems took the House they both announced that they could do more good in Congress. So Daley will win his race, but not all the others. There are contests in the aldermanic races in 41 of the 50 wards and more candidates than any other recent election.
People sense that Daley, and his closest associates, are weakened. (Several aides are under indictment or investigation for corruption.) And if five or so of his allies can be beaten the new insurgents can join the few progressives on the city council and a few more who are afraid of losing next time. There would be some opposition for the first time in years.
How can you help? If you live in or near Chicago, look up one of these campaigns. They are all endorsed by DFA (or almost all). There are a few other good ones. Help out this weekend and on Election Day. It could make a big difference in the coming years, both for the City and nationally.
David Askew (CHI-02)
Michele Smith (CHI-43)
Ricardo Muños (CHI-22) (can’t find his campaign website)
Joe Moore (CHI-49)
Greg Brewer (CHI-50)