Monday, November 22, 2010

EXTRA: The candidates, for now

This is the “baker’s dozen-plus seven” list of people who still have delusions of becoming mayor of Chicago following the 2011 municipal elections.

Former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun
Former Public Schools/City Colleges chief Gery Chico
Rep. Danny Davis
Rev. Wilfredo DeJesus
City Clerk Miguel del Valle
Former White House Chief of Staff/Rep., Rahm Emanuel
M. Tricia Lee
Tyrone Carter
Jay Stone
Ryan Graves
Patricia Van Pelt Watkins
Fenton Patterson
Rob Halpin (a.k.a., the tenant who wouldn’t leave)
Rev./state Sen. James Meeks
Sen. (for one more week) Roland Burris
Frederick White
Tommy Hanson
John Hu
William “Dock” Walls
Howard Ray

AND THE REASON why some people want to believe that Tom Dart’s name isn’t on this list.

All I know is it will be interesting to see how aggressively the so-called “major” candidates decide to challenge the candidacies of the lesser-known names. I doubt that Jay “Mr. 280” Stone will be the only person who gets knocked off the list between now and the Feb. 22 election.

For what it’s worth, the first seven names on the list were the people who were on hand when the Chicago Board of Elections offices opened at 9 a.m. Nov. 15 to file their petitions. So they will be eligible for the lottery Dec. 1 to figure out who gets the top spot on the ballot’s laundry list of mayoral hopefuls.

Personally, I’m hoping Lee (whose YouTube video proclaims her to be a Bridgeport native and the quintessential Chicagoan) makes a mess of the well-laid-out strategies of experienced politicos by winning that ballot slot.

  -30-

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