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| Daley III. Or not close enough? |
TUESDAY
WAS AN Election Day that threatened to have the lowest voter turnout ever for a
mayoral election, and it was only because of a final surge at the end of the
day at polling places that the turnout crept just above the 33 percent record
that was set back in 2007.
That
was the final re-election for Richard M. Daley, by which time many people were
tired of the son of Richard J. So the trick was whether enough time had passed
that another son of Richard J. might actually succeed.
After
about two hours of ballot counting, William Daley’s mayoral campaign had 14.7
percent of the votes. Which in this election cycle with 14 candidates seeking
the mayor’s office was good enough for third.
Or
just close enough that he can’t qualify for an April 2 run-off election.
THE
TOP TWO slots were being held by Toni Preckwinkle (16 percent of the vote) and
Lori Lightfoot (at 17.4 percent). With votes in more than 200 precincts across
the city still to be counted, it could still be possible for the one-time chief
of staff to President Barack Obama could manage to creep into second place –
and therefore be in the run-off for mayor.
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| Is Preckwinkle or Lightfoot (below) … |
But
if things manage to stand as they already are, we’ll be facing a
Preckwinkle/Lightfoot brawl.
Both
of whom are black women, which would be a “first” for Chicago. Although I’m sure
there are certain kinds of people who deliberately cast their ballots Tuesday
in ways meant to prevent such a “first” from being achieved.
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| … more fitting of the character … |
It
is kind of humorous the way this election cycle has shaped up. Preckwinkle was
the one-time darling of those who considered themselves politically
progressive, but now is regarded as just another political hack.
HOW
ELSE TO describe a one-time alderman (albeit from the Hyde Park neighborhood)
and county board president?
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| … of former Mayor Jane Byrne? |
Whereas
Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor and head of the Chicago Police Board.
Not usually credentials that would gain anybody political support from people
of progressive leanings.
But
in this election cycle, some people seem so eager to vote for anybody who’s
never held elective office before. As though we’re eager to have a political
amateur in place.
Consider
that some 52 percent of people who cast ballots actually voted for someone
other than the three people who are dominating the vote. This really is an
election cycle in which we, the electorate, couldn’t reach a consensus.
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| Chance the Rapper not enough for Enyia win |
SO
WE’LL LIKELY find out in coming days whether we have a chance at another “Mayor
Daley,” or someone to remind us of the days of Jane Byrne’s mayoral stint.
About the only thing we can say is that the influence of Chance the Rapper (who
financially backed candidate Amara Enyia’s campaign) was only good for about 8
percent of the vote.
Which
was good enough to top the 5.5 percent that one-time Chicago Public Schools CEO
Paul Vallas managed to get in his mayoral bid.
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| Burke held against everyone but himself |
But
before you start to think that we’re in for total change, keep in mind the
aldermanic races – where Edward M. Burke’s legal problems and his ties to so
many political people were being blamed for the failure of candidates to finish
strong. Even Preckwinkle supposedly didn’t finish first because of such ties.
But
as for Burke himself? It seems he got re-elected without having to do a run-off
– he got some 55 percent of the vote – even though his ward has developed an overwhelmingly
Latino population and some were counting on that factor as being enough to dump
Burke. It seems that voters will hold Burke against other people, while not
hesitating to vote for the man himself!
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