Chicago mayoral challenger says he can raise $3 million
A county commissioner hoping to unseat Chicago's mayor said Wednesday that he's confident he can raise from $3 million to $5 million to get his message out that Rahm Emanuel is neglecting the city's neighborhoods and hasn't kept residents safe from crime.
But with just $18,000 in his campaign fund, Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia's fundraising aspirations underscore what a formidable candidate Emanuel - whose own campaign fund is nearly $9 million - will be when voters go to the polls in February.
"Emanuel has tons of money and he has the most visible name recognition in Chicago since the Daley family," said Alan Gitelson, a Loyola University political science professor. "He (Garcia) can make those arguments but Emanuel will have a first-rate team to fight back and will have a warchest that gives him TV time and visibility."
Garcia, who joins Alderman Bob Fioretti as a candidate, hopes to fill the void left in the race when Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, announced that she was seriously ill and would not run for mayor. Garcia said he hopes to gain the union's support, but the question is just how hard the thousands of teachers who are widely expected to volunteer for and contribute to Lewis' campaign will work for Garcia.
Locally the union will help gather the 12,500 signatures Garcia needs to get his name on the ballot, but union spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said in a statement that "other supports, including money, research and boots on the ground, (have) yet to be determined."
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which had pledged $1 million for Lewis' campaign, said in a statement that no decision has been made about what role, if any, that union will play in the race since she withdrew.
Like Lewis, Garcia is critical of Emanuel's decision to close about 50 public schools last year. And as other candidates did before Emanuel's first election, Garcia signaled that he will raise questions about the mayor's ties to Washington, D.C., as well as his well-known abrasive personality.
"If you are a Washington insider ... over a long time you probably don't have the disposition, the demeanor or the willingness to listen to people," Garcia said.
He also said Emanuel is approaching public safety the wrong way and that spending millions of dollars in police overtime is unsustainable. Garcia said hiring more police officers is key to making residents more secure.
Emanuel's campaign spokesman Steve Mayberry disputed that Emanuel has not done enough for the school system, pointing to his push for a longer school day, full-day kindergarten and other initiatives that have helped raise test scores and graduation rates. And, to Garcia's contention that Emanuel has forgotten the neighborhoods, he pointed to the mayor's "fight to raise the minimum wage, which will help 400,000 Chicago workers."