# Chicago Mayoral Election 2015
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [January 4, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985 "2015-01-04T22:46:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/141 "2015-03-17T20:00:47Z")
I searched to see if I could find data on Jesse Jackson’s favorability ratings, but found nothing current. Anecdotally, myself and many other white people I know despise him. He’s most recently known for the scandal involving his son and his wife.
Will blacks turn out for Garcia or just stay home? Garcia will need strong black turn out and I’m not thinking he will get it.
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### Author:  [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/142 "2015-03-17T21:19:25Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> I searched to see if I could find data on Jesse Jackson’s favorability ratings, but found nothing current. Anecdotally, myself and many other white people I know despise him. He’s most recently known for the scandal involving his son and his wife.
>
> Will blacks turn out for Garcia or just stay home? Garcia will need strong black turn out and I’m not thinking he will get it.
This may be a surprise to you, but you and your white friends are not necessarily representative of all white people. Maybe you should expand your circle a little bit.
Also, are there any actual issues you care about in this election, or is it just this racial stuff? Oh, and of course your intuition about Karen Lewis. Can’t forget about that.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/143 "2015-03-17T22:18:15Z")
My #1 issue is continuing job growth in Chicago. I also want Rahm as mayor to help fight off the worst of the Rauner budget. I cringe at the idea of Garcia trying to work with Rauner.
Minor issues:
I’d like to see the CTA flyover built. Plus Rahm also supports more food trucks! What’s not to like?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/144 "2015-03-17T22:22:48Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> My #1 issue is continuing job growth in Chicago. I also want Rahm as mayor to help fight off the worst of the Rauner budget. I cringe at the idea of Garcia trying to work with Rauner.
Why?
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> Minor issues:
> I’d like to see the CTA flyover built. Plus Rahm also supports more food trucks! What’s not to like?
Is Garcia against those things?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/145 "2015-03-17T22:38:48Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#):
>
> Good thing Rahm knows what he’s doing with the city budget. You know, stuff like taking the city from a [$70 million deficit to a $700 million](https://madmimi.com/p/af9df5?fe=1&pact=28873979446).
I’m barely leaning Chuy, but I don’t see that in the article you linked. The only mention of $70M and $700M I see is this:
> [@](#):
>
> When Mayor Richard M. Daley took office in 1989, we had a $70 million deficit. By 2010, that number had ballooned to more than $700 million.
Emanuel took office in 2011.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/146 "2015-03-17T22:49:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Why?
>
> Is Garcia against those things?
Garcia is against the Belmont flyover.
[http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/redeye-chicago-mayoral-candidates-on-transit-20150302-story.html](http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/redeye-chicago-mayoral-candidates-on-transit-20150302-story.html)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/147 "2015-03-17T23:06:42Z")
[First of three debates was last night.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/17/rahm-emanuel-debate_n_6885944.html) No clear winner, apparently.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/148 "2015-03-18T02:21:05Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> My #1 issue is continuing job growth in Chicago. I also want Rahm as mayor to help fight off the worst of the Rauner budget. I cringe at the idea of Garcia trying to work with Rauner.
But Rahm and Rauner are buddies. Why would Rahm fight off the worst of Rauner’s budget?
> **[Emanuel-Rauner ties create campaign subplot](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2014/08/29/emanuel-rauner-ties-create-campaign-subplot/)**
>
> Just a few months before announcing plans to become Chicago’s next Democratic mayor, Rahm Emanuel strolled down the gravel path to a Montana resort restaurant with Republican businessman Bruc…
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I’m barely leaning Chuy, but I don’t see that in the article you linked. The only mention of $70M and $700M I see is this:
Ooops, misunderstood the line.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/149 "2015-03-18T16:31:19Z")
Scalia and Ginsburg are friends too. It doesn’t mean that either of them are likely to see things the same way.
Emanuel has already stood up to Rauner.
[http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/442721/emanuel-attacks-rauner-park-funding-cut](http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/442721/emanuel-attacks-rauner-park-funding-cut)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/150 "2015-03-18T17:20:00Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> Emanuel has already stood up to Rauner.
> [http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/442721/emanuel-attacks-rauner-park-funding-cut](http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/442721/emanuel-attacks-rauner-park-funding-cut)
[But not to Kenneth C. Griffin.](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/18/gop_plutocrat_gallops_to_rahm_emanuels_rescue_what_kenneth_griffins_support_says_about_mayor_1/)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/151 "2015-03-18T17:29:50Z")
BTW, [this](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/16/rahm_emanuels_achilles_heel_6_reasons_he_may_lose_his_reelection/) is one of six reasons Emanuel might lose.
> [@](#):
>
> **6. He helped pave the way for Bruce Rauner’s election as Governor.**
>
> In between Emanuel’s time as one of Bill Clinton’s right-hand men and his first campaign for U.S. Congress, he made his money in banking – at one point, pulling in $16 million in just 2 years. His most lucrative deal was using his political clout to negotiate the sale of a security company on behalf of GTCR Golder Rauner, which was chaired by Bruce Rauner. The details of the sale is the epitome of the shady, corrupt, good-old-boy cronyism that most associate with Chicago politics.
>
> After telecoms giant SBC Communications acquired Ameritech, another giant telecoms corporation, Bill Clinton’s FCC ordered SBC to sell SecurityLink, which was an asset of Ameritech’s that SBC acquired by default. SBC was chaired by William Daley, who was Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, and the brother of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who depended on Rahm Emanuel as his chief fundraiser. Rahm was able to use his clout to buy SecurityLink for $479 million on behalf of GTCR, $379 million of which was financed by SBC. Emanuel then flipped SecurityLink for $1 billion, netting his client a profit of more than $500 million.
>
> “Bruce Rauner gave Rahm a toehold in the financial sector where Rahm could make a huge amount of money in a couple of years, and then Rahm didn’t have to worry about money anymore,” Phillip Cantor said.
>
> Before Rauner, a Republican, was elected governor of Illinois, Rahm appointed him as the chief of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism effort. And when Emanuel, a Democrat, was running for mayor of Chicago, he won with the help of Rauner’s donations. But now, the two politicians and vacation buddies have to pretend to be at odds with one another, now that Rauner — who made $30,000 an hour and wants to lower the minimum wage – introduced a nuclear budget that cuts money from schools, healthcare, and other public services vital to Chicago. Rahm has promised to fight the cuts, but Fred Klonsky said Rahm’s rhetoric is just smoke and mirrors.
>
> “The mayor has played this game – the first proposal is the nuclear option,” Klonsky said. “If you remember, Rahm’s first option was to close 300 neighborhood public schools. After the outrage settled down, he backed down to 49. Some people will go, ‘Thank God for that. He only closed 49.’”
>
> “Rauner has this crazy slash and burn budget, knowing that full well the democrat-controlled legislature has a veto proof majority in both chambers,” Klonsky continued. “Rahm knows that, so he can take the position that the budget is a terrible thing, so it’s a politically safe position to take, and makes it sound like he’s standing up for the city.”
>
> “[Rauner] gives to Democrats, and his wife is a Democrat,” Phillip Cantor said. “He only ran as a Republican to oppose Pat Quinn. He’s as much of a Republican as Bill Clinton.”
>
> Klonsky said that despite the two politicians nominally representing opposing parties, the fact that they’re both deeply tied to the financial industry and are able to muster significant support for their campaigns from the same group of donors makes their governing styles interchangeable.
>
> “It’s a new model for the way in which the corporate class governs,” Klonsky said. “This is corporate control of a government with no middle man.”
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/152 "2015-03-18T17:36:46Z")
[And here’s a seventh.](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/17/not_true_and_they_knew_it%e2%80%9d_what_rahm_emanuels_wall_street_craze_cost_chicago/)
> [@](#):
>
> The city of Chicago and its public school system could recoup potentially billions of dollars in overpayments from complicated, unjust deals inked with Wall Street banks, if they pursued legal action or demanded enforcement from federal regulators. But Rahm Emanuel, the current mayor, has refused to chase this opportunity, despite the city’s drastic fiscal outlook and the effect on citizens. By contrast, his opponent in the April 7 mayoral run-off election, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, appears far more likely to take action against a powerful financial sector Emanuel has relied on for campaign contributions.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/153 "2015-03-18T18:36:26Z")
Early voting (in person) starts March 23. I received my vote by mail ballot on Monday and mailed it yesterday. Garcia needs to make up ground in a hurry.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/154 "2015-03-18T19:49:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> [But not to Kenneth C. Griffin.](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/18/gop_plutocrat_gallops_to_rahm_emanuels_rescue_what_kenneth_griffins_support_says_about_mayor_1/)
That’s odd. Why would a billionaire GOP-supporting hedge fund CEO throw so much money at Rahm? Hmmm…
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/155 "2015-03-18T21:26:30Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#):
>
> That’s odd. Why would a billionaire GOP-supporting hedge fund CEO throw so much money at Rahm? Hmmm…
Makes perfect sense. Chicago is a financial capitol. He’d much rather have Rahm as mayor than an unpredictable lightweight such as Garcia.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/156 "2015-03-18T22:00:18Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> Makes perfect sense. Chicago is a financial capitol. He’d much rather have Rahm as mayor than an unpredictable lightweight such as Garcia.
Or, it could be something else.
> [@](#):
>
> Besides Emanuel, the few Democrats to receive contributions from Griffin include former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the onetime Banking Committee chairman who cultivated close ties to the financial industry; and former Illinois Rep. Melissa Bean, a Wall Street-friendly centrist who ultimately went to work for JPMorgan Chase after losing her seat in 2010.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/157 "2015-03-19T12:53:35Z")
I think it’s because Griffin wants to make sure there’s no talk of an idiotic financial transactions tax. Rahm won’t support that idiocy, but Lewis/Garcia might.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/158 "2015-03-19T14:57:20Z")
NPR on the mayor’s race and its national implications. Included is a link to a Rahm TV ad: [http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/03/18/393839466/chicago-mayors-race-puts-democratic-divide-in-spotlight](http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/03/18/393839466/chicago-mayors-race-puts-democratic-divide-in-spotlight)
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/159 "2015-03-19T15:27:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> [First of three debates was last night.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/17/rahm-emanuel-debate_n_6885944.html) No clear winner, apparently.
We might just read different media but everyone I read/heard talk about the debate was that Garcia was crushed. Rahm was able to give clear sounding, articulate answers to how he’d tackle issues\* and Garcia gave a bunch of meandering platitude non-answers that were practically Palin-esque.
\*I won’t vouch for how workable the answers were but “A third comes from this and a third from that” still sounds better than “We need to look at the books and stop the rich guy from hurting the poor guy”.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-mayoral-election-2015/708985/160 "2015-03-19T16:06:15Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> I think it’s because Griffin wants to make sure there’s no talk of an idiotic financial transactions tax. Rahm won’t support that idiocy, but Lewis/Garcia might.
Why is [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_transaction_tax) idiotic? And, does a city government even have the authority to impose such a tax?
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