Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia
Most of you have known me since I was a small child. And while I moved to California 19 years ago, the Windy City will always be my hometown and I care about it deeply.
Today, you get to vote in the Mayor's race — and I urge you: please vote for Jesus Chuy Garcia.
One of my first political memories as a kid was when Harold Washington was mayor. He gave voice to the voiceless in Chicago, and stood for open and honest government. I still remember that moment in 4th Grade, sitting in Mr. Polakow's math class, when I learned that he died of a heart attack. Chicago has not had a mayor who cares about all Chicagoans ever since.
Four years ago, I was horrified that Rahm Emanuel — who represents all that is wrong with the Democratic Party — left Washington DC to become Mayor of Chicago. But while I have always despised Rahm, even I was not prepared to expect Mayor 1% would so completely sell the City — ignoring wide swaths of the South Side & West Side, shredding the safety net of mental health services & public schools, selling the City to his cronies.
A vote for Jesus Garcia is a vote for a better Chicago that gives opportunity to everyone. Every time I come back to visit, I am blown away at how much Downtown has transformed with high-priced condos and corporate office buildings while the neighborhoods remain stagnant and bereft of hope. Today is a rare opportunity to fight back against the Machine. Vote CHUY!
UPDATE (04/08/15): In the end, Chuy Garcia came up short last night and did not defeat Rahm Emanuel. It was always going to be an uphill battle. Back in February, he came up 10 points behind Rahm Emanuel—a big difference to make up.
As I said six weeks ago, the 2015 Chicago Mayor's race reminded me a lot of the 1999 San Francisco Mayor's race—which I was very involved in. Like Rahm Emanuel, Mayor Willie Brown was a corrupt & arrogant asshole who was also an effective politician. Like Chuy Garcia, Tom Ammiano was an earnest progressive who ran a last-minute insurgent grassroots campaign.
But all the excitement around "making the runoff" obfuscated the fact that Tom Ammiano finished 15 points behind Willie Brown in the first round of voting, and the overwhelming financial edge was going to be difficult. Rahm & Willie both had challengers who were much more likable than them, so they went negative by attacking them as "ineffective" or repeating right-wing talking points on taxes.
I warned Chuy Garcia's people six weeks ago that—win or lose—they had to figure out a way to make sure the energy from this campaign outlasts this election, and that they can use that to build real political power in Chicago.
In San Francisco, progressives were able to use the Ammiano campaign to win back control of the Board of Supervisors a year later. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel may have been re-elected last night—but a lot of his City Council allies lost in various wards. That's the first step to winning back your city.