Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Republican Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, who wants to drive down wages and bust unions in Illinois, is actively supporting Rahm Emanuel's re-election campaign in the April 7 run-off election for Mayor of Chicago. Specifically, Rauner has made at least two phone calls to Willie Wilson, who got third place in the first round of the Chicago mayoral race and, as a result, did not make the runoff, in an attempt to convince Wilson, who supported Rauner in last year's Illinois gubernatorial election and was a member of Rauner's post-election transition team, to publicly endorse Rahm:
(Michael) Sneed hears Gov. Bruce Rauner has called former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson twice to encourage him to endorse Mayor Rahm Emanuel in April’s runoff election.
Rauner and Wilson are expected to meet Saturday. Wilson supported Rauner in his gubernatorial campaign last year, and in turn Rauner appointed him to his transition committee.
On Thursday, Wilson announced he was retracting the promise he made on the eve of Election Day that he would endorse Garcia in the event of a runoff.
Make no mistake about it,
when it comes to driving down wages, busting unions, destroying public education, stealing retirees' pension benefits, privatizing government, and giving more power and wealth to the wealthiest and most politically connected Illinoisans, Bruce Rauner and Rahm Emanuel are on the same page. The fact that Rauner is now actively working behind the scenes in a desperate attempt to revive Rahm's failing re-election bid in Chicago proves it.
Regardless of who Willie Wilson endorses (although I think that he'll endorse Rahm Emanuel), the April 7 Chicago mayoral runoff election is the first real opportunity that people in our state's largest city will have to send a clear message that they strongly oppose the Rahm-Rauner corporate agenda to turn Illinois into an even worse state than it currently is. I strongly encourage Chicagoans to show up at the polls on April 7 and vote for Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for Mayor of Chicago. If elected, Chuy will fight for a better and more progressive Chicago, including pushing for a moratorium on charter schools, making housing more accessible and affordable, ending the corruption and getting rid of the waste in Chicago's tax increment finance (TIF) program, improving public transit in Chicago, and making Chicago a more inclusive city for all.