Jesus Chuy Garcia receives endorsements of Cook County Commissioner David Orr.
Exhibit A:
If the election were held today, [Chicago Mayor Rahm] Emanuel would get 44 percent of the vote to 16 percent for [Jesus] Garcia, a Cook County commissioner, and a nearly identical 15 percent for a third candidate, Ald. Bob Fioretti, 2nd, the survey found. Seven percent of the sample backs someone else, and 18 percent is undecided.
Furthermore, in a two-way five months before the runoff would take place, Rahm leads Garcia by only 49-37 despite near-universal name recognition. Heck, it's probably
because everyone knows that Rahm is an asshole that he's doing so poorly against someone with just 36 percent name ID (and that's probably exaggerated, since who really knows who their county commissioners are?).
If that seems like a big hill to climb, let's look at what NY Mayor Bill de Blasio's numbers looked like five months from his election:
Quinnipiac: Christine Quinn 19, de Blasio 10
Marist: Quinn 20, de Blasio 10.
Then five months later, he notched a big plurality win with 41 percent of the vote. Campaigns can do that.
Exhibits B and C on why Rahm is in real danger are below the fold. But if you want to knock the odious Rahm out of politics once and for all, and you know you do (because of COURSE you do!), then send $3 to Garcia. As you'll see below the fold, lots of bucks are starting to flow his way. You can say "I helped kick that asshole out of office," and wouldn't that be grand? So do it!
Exhibit B: money won't be a problem. Sure, Rahm is sitting on $10 million, but he can't buy love. He can use that money to tar and feather his opponents, so we can't discount it. In fact, that should be his entire campaign strategy, because, well, he can't buy love. So the next big question is whether the challengers will have the cash to get their message out. Not to match Rahm, because no one will, but they don't have to. (Remember, Democrats hugely outspent Republicans in most races this past cycle for all the good it did them.) The question is, will Garcia have the money to parry Rahm's attacks and get his message out? And the answer is ... YES.
In a sign that Chicago may have a mayoral race worth watching after all, Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia has received a major donation from a labor union for his race against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with another gift well into six figures reportedly on the way.
The $250,000 donation comes from SEIU Healthcare, a unit of the Service Employees International Union that represents nursing home and other medical workers. The donation has not yet showed up on the State Board of Elections website, but has been confirmed by SEIU Healthcare.
Mr. Garcia in recent days has received more than $150,000 in large chunks from other labor groups, as well as $16,000 from the campaign fund of Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. And, a usually reliable source tells me that a donation of hundreds of thousands of dollars is coming from the American Federation of Teachers, which had pledged to donate $1 million to Lewis.
Labor was going to go in for Karen Lewis, who dropped out of the race when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The big question was whether Garcia could pick up where she left off, and he's making huge strides in that direction, galvanizing the city's progressive community against the odious mayor. Which leads to ...
Exhibit C:
With City Hall as a backdrop, Cook County Clerk David Orr stood with mayoral contender Jesus “Chuy” Garcia on Sunday and anointed him as the progressive alternative to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his top-down style [...]
Then Orr tweaked the mayor, who has an enormous fundraising advantage over Garcia but who Chicagoans have expressed dissatisfaction with in public opinion polls.
“The mayor, with millions, has a hard time getting signatures on his petitions. Chuy Garcia in three weeks time, spending no money—all volunteers—got 60-some thousand," Orr said. "In another week, they probably would have gotten 90,000.”
Orr's endorsement is less about Orr, and more about a galvanized Chicago progressive wing starting to flex its muscles. It's a message that resonates right now. It worked for de Blasio in New York, and it'll work for Garcia in Chicago. All we need is that progressive community to rally around Garcia, both on the ground and financially.
You are part of that. We love to complain about the Rahm Emanuels of our party, diluting or subverting our message, more interested in playing nice with big corporate interests than with serving the needs of its citizens. If we want that populist liberal party, it's up to us to support the candidates fighting to transform this party. It really is up to us.