Howard Dean endorsed Jesus “Chuy” Garcia over Rahm Emanuel for Chicago mayor, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“Important back story: When Emanuel was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he stuck it to Dean in 2006 – when Dean was the DNC chair. Emanuel wanted Dean to funnel millions of dollars to help House candidates. Emanuel taunted Dean’s ’50 State Strategy’ and a leaked story about how little Emanuel thought of Dean found its way into print.”
“A runoff that was expected to be a slam dunk for Rahm Emanuel is turning out to be uncomfortably — even dangerously — close, leading the Chicago mayor to ready a scorched-earth offensive to save his job,” Politico reports.
“Recent polling shows the race between Emanuel and his unknown and underfunded rival, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, has closed to within single digits. With local and national progressive groups lining up behind Garcia and promising to pour cash into the effort to deny Emanuel a second term, the mayor is suddenly scratching and clawing for his political existence.”
The Chicago Sun Times quotes Emanuel in a new television ad: “I can rub people the wrong way.”
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) suggested that Chicago could go the way of financially strapped Detroit if voters fail to reelect Rahm Emanuel (D), USA Today reports.
Said Kirk: “The people who are running against Rahm don’t have the gravitas with the bond market. I would worry about the value of the Chicago debt if Rahm was not re-elected.”
A video of West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio (D) referring to slower learning kids as “dummies” is the basis of a new attack ad, WPBF-TV reports.
Muoio admitted she regretted using the term: “You have the script there and the context. Of course, if I hadn’t said it, it would be better.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel “is headed to a politically risky runoff election in April after conceding he won’t reach the 50 percent benchmark he needs on Tuesday night,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Emanuel: “We have come a long way and we have a little further to go.”
Politico: “It ought to be a coronation, Rahm Emanuel must figure. But as he nears what might or might not be the end of his exhausting race for a second term as Chicago’s mayor, the former White House chief of staff and tough-guy insider on Tuesday faces a possibly humiliating setback—particularly ego-crushing because he is running against an extremely weak field of four, has vastly more money than any of them, has television ads airing 24/7 and has run the table on endorsements. He ought to be resting easy—well, Rahm seems never to rest, but at least he should be confident of a win.”
“During his first run, against more seasoned competitors, it was clear early on that Emanuel would win; four years later, after Chicagoans have gotten to know the guy who spent most of his career in Washington—he was a congressman for four terms before heading to the White House—it’s not clear whether he wins outright tomorrow (he needs 50 percent plus one vote) or, according to the rules, faces a time- and money-consuming runoff on April 7 against the second-place candidate.”
A new Ogden and Fry poll in Chicago, one day before the election, finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) doesn’t have the 50% needed to avoid a run-off.
Emanuel leads with 48%, followed by Jesus “Chuy” Garcia at 27% and Willie Wilson at 15%.
A federal judge warned New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) that if he doesn’t schedule a special election to replace former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) by the end of the week, the court will do it for him, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It’s been almost a month and a half since Mr. Grimm, a Republican, resigned from office after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Special elections in New York take place 70 to 80 days after a governor issues a proclamation to fill a vacancy. That means that Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn that make up the district will have to do without someone to represent them in the House of Representatives for at least 111 days.”
Failed Mississippi U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel (R) is “absolutely thinking about it” on challenging incumbent Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) in the GOP primary, the Clarion Ledger reports.
The deadline for qualifying for state races is Feb. 27.
A new Chicago Tribune poll finds Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) “is closing in on the majority he needs to win re-election and avoid a runoff, but nearly 1 in 5 Chicago voters remain undecided a week before Election Day.”
“The survey found that Emanuel has boosted his favorability and job approval ratings among voters after millions of dollars in TV ads, while support for top challenger Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia may be stalling as he starts to air his own ads in the closing days of the campaign.”
A new Chicago Tribune poll finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel leads the race for mayor with 42%, followed by Chuy Garcia at 18% and Bob Fioretti at 10%.
Emanuel needs win 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff election.
Matt Bevin (R), who lost a Republican Senate primary loss to Mitch McConnell (R), “launched another statewide race Tuesday, this time for Kentucky governor,” National Journal reports.
“Bevin’s unexpected and late entry—he officially joined the race less than two hours before the state’s 4 p.m. deadline—is a boon for the party’s most conservative elements, as it will boost their voice in a crowded campaign. But for the party as a whole, it complicates an already difficult task: preventing the competitive primary from crippling their candidate before the general election begins.”
President Obama endorsed Mayor Rahm Emanuel for re-election “in a radio ad that began airing Monday in Chicago, laughing off Emanuel’s ‘hardheaded’ demeanor as proof of his passion and speaking in favor of the mayor’s school policies that have become key points of controversy in the election campaign,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“The ad comes less than a month before the election, in which Emanuel is seeking to hold on to the strong support from African-American voters who helped him win the mayor’s office in 2011 without having to go to a runoff election.”
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) is “very interested” in running for Senate in 2016 if Sen. David Vitter (R) is elected Louisiana governor next year, Roll Call reports.
“Louisiana only wrapped up the 2014 Senate race a few days ago, but soon state operatives may start thinking about another race. Vitter has already announced an exploratory committee to run for governor in 2015. If Vitter wins, Fleming said, he wants to succeed him in the Senate.”
The Lexington Herald Leader looks at the possibility that Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) challenges Jack Conway (D) for the Democratic nomination for Kentucky governor.
“If Grimes wades into that race, it seems all but certain that her entry would mark the start of the next chapter in the Kentucky Democratic Party’s rough-and-tumble history, dividing a party that is already in the midst of a soul-searching journey and reopening divisions that Democrats hoped had been healed by their collective disdain for Mitch McConnell, who is about to become U.S. Senate Majority Leader.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) formally announced his re-election campaign for mayor at a West Side film studio, using the platform to compare the city today to a pre-Emanuel “old Chicago,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“In a setting that offered a contrast to the venue he chose to announce his election in 2010 — a North Side elementary school — Emanuel told a crowd Cinespace Film Studios has provided jobs to hundreds of Chicago families.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) “has received $400,000 in political donations that he was able to keep only because the state’s campaign contribution limits were eliminated through the actions of an obscure candidate who threatened to run, but didn’t,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“The contribution limits were lifted for everyone in the Chicago mayoral race last month after frequent local candidate William J. Kelly filed paperwork in October showing he gave his own campaign $100,000. Under state law, once a candidate in a local race contributes $100,000 to his or her own campaign within one year of an election, the state contribution caps no longer apply. But Kelly didn’t file the necessary petition signatures by Monday’s deadline to appear on the ballot. Nonetheless, the lifting of the campaign limits remains in place.”
A new SurveyUSA poll in Georgia finds David Perdue (R) leading Michelle Nunn (D) in the U.S. Senate race by three points, 48% to 45%.
Last week’s survey found Nunn leading by two points.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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