Toni Preckwinkle (D) declared that she won’t run for Chicago mayor, “leaving union and community groups angry over Chicago’s violent crime, school closings and teetering finances searching for a credible candidate to take on Mayor Rahm Emanuel next year,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

“The decision is a boost to Emanuel’s bid for a second term and ensures he won’t have to square off against a popular, countywide elected official capable of uniting disparate voters from the South and West Sides with lakefront liberals.”

A new We Ask America poll in Chicago finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel trailing two rivals in his expected re-election race.

Karen Lewis leads Emanuel, 45% to 36%, while Toni Preckwinkle, “long considered his most formidable challenger,” crushes him 55% to 31%.

The Chicago Tribune says Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staff is pushing negative stories about possible challenger Toni Preckwinkle.

“Campaigns scouting potential opponents and suggesting negative stories is a decades-old political practice. But what makes the move… somewhat unusual is that it came nine months before the mayoral election and centered on a person who has not declared she is running.”

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway (D) “will announce as early as Tuesday that he’s officially in the 2015 governor’s race and has selected state Rep. Sannie Overly (D) as his running mate,” CN2 reports.

“Conway has had mixed success running statewide, winning the attorney general’s race in 2007 but losing by 10 points to Rand Paul in the 2010 U.S. Senate race.”

A new Illinois Observer poll finds Toni Preckwinkle leading Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the 2015 race for mayor, 40% to 32%, with another 28% undecided.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) announced he would run for governor of Louisiana in 2015.

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