Gutierrez will not enter Chicago mayoral race

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat who has been a leader in the fight for federal immigration reform, said Thursday he will not run for Chicago mayor.

Gutierrez's name had circulated as a possible contender to replace retiring Mayor Richard Daley. But he announced his intention to sit out the race in a speech at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he said he would better serve Chicago fighting for federal immigration reform while in Congress.

"In your life, it is not easy to walk away from the possibility and opportunity of leading this first class city," he said. "The people of the city of Chicago deserve someone who isn't going to do it halfheartedly. They deserve someone who only wants to be mayor. I don't want two different things tugging at my heart."

Daley, who has been mayor since 1989, announced last month he will not seek a seventh term.

So far, the list of mayoral candidates includes Chicago City Clerk Miguel Del Valle, State Sen. Rickey Hendon and former Chicago School Board President Gery Chico. Among those preparing a run are former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.

Gutierrez said he decided Wednesday night not to run and earlier Thursday called several contenders, including Emanuel, to inform them. He said he has not endorsed anyone yet, but anticipates being active in the campaign.

Gutierrez, 56, has become a major player in the fight for federal immigration reform. He is a vocal supporter of the DREAM Act, which would grant U.S. residency to some immigrant youths brought into the country illegally by their parents. And he has been arrested for civil disobedience at the White House over opposition to Arizona's controversial immigration law.

But he had run into recent controversy. The Chicago Tribune reported that in 2004 Gutierrez received a loan from millionaire Chicago developer Calvin Boender, who was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to bribery and tax fraud charges. The newspaper reported Gutierrez allegedly met with Boender and lobbied Daley to back one of his developments.

Gutierrez denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime. He said on Thursday that those allegations had nothing to do with his decision.

The lifelong Chicagoan is the son of Puerto Rican immigrants. He has easily won his Chicago area district, which covers many of the city's largely Hispanic neighborhoods, each election since 1992.

On Thursday, he told the crowd about his parents' journey to Chicago and how it felt when they returned briefly to Puerto Rico when Gutierrez was a teenager. Switching back and forth between Spanish and English seamlessly, he said he recalled feeling like an outcast because he spoke Spanish with an American accent and didn't know many cultural traditions.

He said he's drawn on those memories in his fight for reform.

"The fear that exists in the immigrant community is intolerable," he said. "We have a community that is growing in population that is not growing in power and influence."

In the crowd, several people held up signs that read "Gutierrez for Mayor."

Some community groups, including black and Latino coalitions, have said ethnic communities should unify behind a singular mayoral candidate so that they don't divide votes.

Gutierrez, who would have been highest-profile Hispanic candidate for mayor, said he didn't view the mayoral elections in terms of race.

"Chicago is a rainbow of colors, of ethnicities, of nationalities and of languages," he said. "If you're truly going to be respectful to an electoral process, color, ethnicity, nationality should have nothing to do with it."

In the past, Gutierrez has expressed interest in becoming Chicago's mayor.

In 2006, he mulled a run for Chicago mayor and pushed for reform at City Hall over federal investigations of political hiring and bribe-taking. He even announced he would not seek re-election to Congress, partly due to his wife's cancer.

He changed his mind the following year, saying he had received a letter from supporters asking that he not step down and that his wife's health had improved.

Since then he has taken an active role in May 1 immigrant rights marches and last year led a series of immigration reform meetings nationwide. In one month alone, more than 60,000 people took part in the meetings.

Gutierrez has been a teacher, community activist and worked for former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. In 1986, he was elected a Chicago alderman who worked on issues including affordable housing and a law to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.