Focus of mayoral race shifts to fundraising
By Kristen Mack and John Byrne, Tribune reportersDecember 25, 2010
ct-met-chicago-mayor-race-1226-20101225
With Chicago's mayoral contest coming into clearer focus, the campaign now turns to fundraising shows of strength, a scramble to consolidate support and preparations for an early voting push.
Rahm Emanuel took a big step toward solidifying his spot on the ballot, and state Sen. James Meeks shook up the political calculations by dropping out late last week.
A lull between Christmas and New Year's is expected as voters celebrate the holidays. When the calendar turns to 2011, candidates will have seven weeks until the Feb. 22 election.
The next benchmark in the contest is campaign fundraising. The current cash collection period ends Friday and reports are due by Jan. 20, but candidates with something to brag about are sure to start trickling figures out sooner.
Showing strength in the money game tends to boost the perception of a candidate's viability, leading to more campaign donations. Conversely, a weak campaign checkbook can lead to a downward spiral as money sources shrivel up.
The field got smaller with Meeks' departure, and it could shrink further. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners still could toss as many as five largely unknown mayoral candidates off the ballot in the coming weeks. What started out as a field of 20 could be cut to eight.
Meeks' decision is viewed in Chicago political circles as helping the other two major African-American candidates, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, because the black vote could be less splintered. A recent Tribune poll found black voters supporting Davis at 21 percent, Meeks at 13 percent and Braun at 10 percent, with another 30 percent undecided.
Geographically, Braun could benefit more — she's now the only remaining South Side African-American candidate, with Davis hailing from the West Side. The city's South Side historically has had greater voter turnout than its West Side. The city's only elected African-American mayor, the late Harold Washington, hailed from the South Side.
As for whether there should be further winnowing among black candidates, Braun said it's not necessary for another African-American contender to drop out.
"There are two Hispanic candidates. There are still what, 18 candidates in the race?" said Braun, only slightly exaggerating the total. "We're all going to be called to present our positions, to make our case to the entire city that this is not a city divided, that we are one community."
Davis, who got the backing of a group of African-American ministers, community leaders and elected officials who were seeking a consensus candidate, likes the idea.
"I don't think anybody would disagree, a unified community is the most desired outcome that can take place from any of these conversations," Davis said.
City Clerk Miguel del Valle, one of two major Latino candidates along with Gery Chico, questioned whether such a scenario would be best for the city.
"I'm a Latino, and I've been approached by people in the Latino community who say we need to back a single candidate," del Valle said. "My response to that has been that I want to be elected mayor by every corner of the city, every ethnic group. This campaign should be about bringing people together."
The fundamental dynamic of the contest, however, hasn't changed much. With five major candidates still in, it remains a difficult task for any one of them to muster the 50 percent plus one needed to win outright on Feb. 22.
Emanuel is off to a wide lead in early polls, leaving other candidates trying to gain traction. The goal is to hold Emanuel under a majority and finish in the top two to force an April 5 runoff. A head-to-head matchup provides a clearer contrast for voters and potentially lessens the impact of Emanuel's expected large fundraising advantage.
Meeks' departure is viewed as most hurting Chico, the former Chicago Board of Education president. One less top contender means there are fewer candidates splitting up the overall vote. Chico has been trying to position himself as the alternative to Emanuel and has early support from old-line establishment bosses such as Ald. Ed Burke, 14th.
As for Emanuel, he talked about moving forward and focusing on issues after the elections board voted Friday to keep him on the ballot. But a month or more of court challenges loom if the case makes it to the Illinois Supreme Court. The ballot challenge will still be a distraction for Emanuel, though not as big of one as if he was fighting to get back on the ballot.
The situation needs to be settled fairly quickly — early voting starts Jan. 31 and city officials must have time to print the ballots.
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
Comments (0)
Add comments | Discussion FAQCurrently there are no comments. Be the first to comment!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Mayoral race focus turns to fundraising
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment