The New York Times has a fascinating analysis of the mayoral election in Chicago.
In 2011, Rahm Emanuel cruised to victory with a 31% margin. In the 2015 primary, he did not win a majority.
Rahm’s base is white voters.
If Chuy Garcia turns out the Hispanic vote and wins the black vote,Rahm could lose.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Chuy’s support is coming from the unions as well as a growing progressive base. Besides supporting Chuy, this progressive base supported and is supporting in the aldermen runoffs progressive aldermen. So that if Rahm were to win, all of the city council would not serve as a rubber stamp for him. Chuy signs are appearing throughout the city. SEIU paid for a really good campaign ad for Chuy while Rahm’s ads are paid for by such characters as Ken Griffins, a Chicago billionaire hedge fund manager who also gave to Karl Rove’s PAC as well as to Rauner, the newly elected Teabagger who is busy at work trying to destroy Illinois unions.
It’s too bad that Rahm ticked off all those parents and teachers. You know, the ones who actually vote.
Ellen #YouMessedWithTheWrongPeople
Oh, I would pay a million dollars to see Rahm beaten.
Get your money ready Robert. I’ll be in Chi town and would love to give him a beating-ha ha!
With a baseball bat?
A Louisville Slugger — the All-American baseball bat!
Sadly Rahm got the backing from some of Chicago’s black pastors. Don’t know what that will mean in the final analysis but Chuy seems not to have the persona in his TV ads to win over people. Wish it were different but that is what it seems to me. Only wish Karen Lewis was in the race. Think she might have pulled it off.
Dear Diane,
My sister is a filmmaker — and proud product of the NJ public schools. She recently released the “School Closure Playbook,” a film essay about the privatization of public schools in Chicago:
The School Closure Playbook from Jacobin on Vimeo.
The piece uses Chicago to explore the broader neoliberal campaign against public schools, focusing on how education “reformers” manufactured a budget crisis through a combination of creative accounting, secretive tax schemes (specifically TIF), and media cooperation. It also looks at some of the organizing that developed to regain local control of schools (and contributed to forcing Rahm Emanuel into a run-off election!).
With the run-off mayoral election in Chicago happening a week from today, I’m trying to do a bit of publicity for the film to raise awareness about Emanuel’s closure of 50 public schools. But I also am hoping to reach a national audience, because as you know (or more accurately, as I know from reading your blog), the same “ed reform” playbook of closures & privatization is being carried out across the country.
I’d be honored if you would take a look and consider posting it or linking on your blog, or just passing it around your networks to anyone who might be interested.
Many thanks!
Aurora