EXTRA: Ricketts family not a united front. Or are they more than we think?

Call it odd, not that the Ricketts family is one of significant wealth that feels compelled to use their financial power to influence our government.

Ricketts family has its hands … 

But that the family most definitely isn’t one that is united behind any given candidate or cause.

THE PATER FAMILIAS of the Ricketts clan is Joe, who made the family fortune by founding TD Ameritrade. His children serve on the board. The one thing that does unite them is that the family is the primary owner of the Chicago Cubs, with son Tom serving as the ball club’s chairman.

In fact, the ball club is a factor in the family’s politics. They want to bolster the area surrounding Wrigley Field to help enhance the team’s profitability, and have felt that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Alderman Tom Tunney have been standing in the way.

So it isn’t a surprise that Tom came out with his own endorsement for mayor and offer of some campaign cash ($25,000, for now, for William Daley’s campaign). What should we make of the fact that Tom’s sister (Joe’s daughter) Laura has her own pick?

She’s backing the mayoral bid of Susana Mendoza, while also having made donations to the mayoral aspirations of Mendoza, Toni Precwinkle and Lori Lightfoot. For what it’s worth, Laura Ricketts has a past history of being the family’s Democrat.

… in many different … 

THE IDEA SHE’D be inclined to want to see a woman prevail isn’t surprising. But just how will the two of them co-exist? Or do they just have one of those relationships where politics is off the table for discussion at family gatherings?

Or is Laura used to be the odd-person out amongst the family politically, since she is a supporter of Democrats while the rest of the family has been amongst the financial supporters of President Donald Trump

… and varied political places

With brother Todd, who nearly got a cabinet appointment last year from Trump, serving as Republican National Committee finance chair and being appointed a member of Trump Victory Committee – which is supposed to be the connection between the RNC and the Trump presidential campaign.

So does this make Chicago Cubs baseball the uniting factor between individuals of varying political leanings? Or is it just evidence that White Sox fans are the Chicagoans sane enough in their approach to electoral activity?

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