Will Dart's exit from mayor's race benefit Emanuel? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall

Will Dart's exit from mayor's race benefit Emanuel?

ANALYSIS | Sheriff won't run for mayor, giving Emanuel advantage and spurring speculation on Madigan, Burke options

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BY FRAN SPIELMAN, ABDON M. PALLASCH AND RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporters

Another political bombshell has been dropped in the race for Chicago mayor that's likely to benefit Rahm Emanuel.

The only question is: Will Emanuel's advantage continue or will the development nudge some other big-name contender to jump into the race?

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Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announces his decision not to run for mayor of Chicago at a news conference Wednesday. 

(Keith Hale/Sun-Times)

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Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart stunned his supporters Wednesday by dropping out of the wide-open race to succeed Mayor Daley.

Dart, a candidate for re-election Tuesday, said he was confident he would have won the mayoral race and denied any trouble raising money in a field that includes Emanuel, a fund-raiser extraordinaire who, sources said, has already lined up commitments in the $4 million to $5 million range.

After agonizing over the decision, Dart said, he determined that the demanding job would have required him to be "less of a father" to his five young children, something he was not willing to do.

"The only regret I'd ever have is if I turned out to be a bad father," Dart said.

Dart denied that, by taking a pass, he was making inevitable the election of Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff.

Dart has enjoyed a run of positive publicity as sheriff. Polls have suggested he was Emanuel's strongest rival. The sheriff won favor with black voters with his sensitive handling of the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal. Now, those voters will be free to support a black candidate or to rally behind Emanuel, especially if Obama endorses him.

"The fact that I'm in or out -- that's not going to coronate anybody. I don't believe I'm paving the way for anybody," Dart said.

Emanuel agreed: "Nobody's going to hand you this election but the voters." But, he said, "When someone of Tom Dart's quality and capacity gets out, that has an impact. It changes the dynamics of the race."

For weeks, the political rumor mill has been churning about a possible political deal that could narrow the field, with Dart being offered some plum to lure him from the race.

Dart laughed off those rumors on Wednesday, saying no other candidate had offered him anything directly or through intermediaries. Emanuel denied it. But others were not so sure.

"It could be the second phase of the fix. In Chicago politics, anything is possible," said Ald. Ed Smith (28th).

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), chairman of the City Council's Black Caucus, added, "Candidates talk to each other from time to time, trying to see if [one of] them would get out of the race. Who knows? Maybe Tom may be planning to be something else."

Dart would not rule in or out runs for higher office when his children, ages 1 through 9, are older.

Whether or not there's a deal in the works, one thing is certain: Emanuel is bound to benefit unless another major player enters the race.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has said she is not running for mayor. She is a candidate for re-election "still focused on her race for attorney general," spokeswoman Emily Blum said Wednesday.

But some say Dart's decision to take a pass could prompt Madigan to reconsider. She might even be under pressure to do so from the Stop Rahm movement -- a group of Democratic ward bosses liberated by Daley's impending retirement and searching for an alternative to Emanuel, whom they view as a younger, more energetic version of the dictatorial Daley.

Political observers are hearing that Madigan, the daughter of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, could wait to see who is elected governor on Tuesday.

If it's Republican Bill Brady, she's likely to stay put and launch her four-year campaign for the office she has long coveted: governor of Illinois. If it's Democrat Pat Quinn, the mayor's race may be a possibility.

"Who knows? We still may see a new candidate emerge with this new development," said Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd).

A Democratic ward committeeman, Zalewski said he plans to keep his powder dry until he gets a definitive word from Lisa Madigan.

"If she decides to run, she would be very formidable. She's gonna be the top vote-getter in Illinois come next Tuesday, and we'll have to see what she decides to do after that. She has to make the same decision like Tom. Is this something she wants to do at this point in her career?" he said.

Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) said he, too, is waiting to see "who's in the race when all is said and done." Asked if he's expecting a late entry by Lisa Madigan, he said, "What do I know?"

For weeks, sources said Burke has been maneuvering behind the scenes to stop Emanuel and plot a residency challenge aimed at knocking him off the ballot.

The powerful chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee also has been fending off aldermanic colleagues attempting to persuade him to use his $6 million campaign war chest to run for mayor and serve a single term.

On Wednesday, sources said Burke reached out to Emanuel, leaving some to believe he was ready to cut a deal. In 1989, Burke dropped out of the mayor's race and threw his support to Daley. The deal restored Burke to the role of Finance Committee chairman he held during Council Wars, the notorious power struggle that saw 29 aldermen, most white, thwart Mayor Harold Washington's every move.

African-American elected officials, community, clergy and business leaders are still trying to unite behind a consensus black candidate among a field that includes former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun; state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago); U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers.

The mayor's race also includes three Hispanic candidates: former City Colleges Chairman Gery Chico; City Clerk Miguel del Valle and the Rev. Wilfredo de Jesus.

After Wednesday's turn of events, one powerful ward boss predicted that the two-part mayoral election -- a February matchup followed by an April runoff, if needed -- may only have one part after all.

"Rahm could win it in the first round. We're back to Square One. There might not even be a runoff," the committeeman said.

--> father of five young children-->

via suntimes.com

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