CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

She seems reasonable enough. She has my relatively unenthusiastic vote.

after seeing lori's victory speech last night, i've gone from "relatively unenthusiastic" to "very interested".

i think she might possess the skills needed to actually pull this city, this WHOLE city, together into a better era.

i'm absolutely rooting for her. and it looks like she might just win!

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

after seeing lori's victory speech last night, i've gone from "relatively unenthusiastic" to "very interested".

i think she might possess the skills needed to actually pull this city, this WHOLE city, together into a better era.

i'm absolutely rooting for her. and it looks like she might just win!

I was reading some of her positions on her responses to Crains. A lot of her positions are pretty moderate. She even seems to advocate for eliminating pensions for future public employees. It also seems like she's against rent control and she opposes a city income tax and head tax. Though does mention a need for "progressive taxes" without ever fully explaining what that could be. So all around not that bad.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Though does mention a need for "progressive taxes" without ever fully explaining what that could be. So all around not that bad.

One specific she has called for is a graduated real estate transfer tax.

The current tax is $5.25 for every $500 of a property’s sale value, or 1.05 percent. Lightfoot’s tax would charge 0.35 percent for the first $500,000 of sale value; 1 percent for between $500,000 and $1 million; 2 percent for between $1 million and $5 million; and 3 percent for the sale value over $5 million.

Lightfoot projected that 95 percent of property sales in the city would see a cut in the amount of transfer tax paid under the proposed rates. She also estimated the new structure would bring in an additional $80 million to $150 million per year. Proceeds from any transfer tax ebb and flow with the housing market.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

after seeing lori's victory speech last night, i've gone from "relatively unenthusiastic" to "very interested".

i think she might possess the skills needed to actually pull this city, this WHOLE city, together into a better era.

i'm absolutely rooting for her. and it looks like she might just win!

Indeed Steely. Excellent post and observation. Yes, she may be just what this city needs. Ironically enough, by the time I got to the polling booth it was between Daley and Lightfoot for me. Yes, surprisingly, Daley won me over. I voted for him. Vallas was my guy but I just didn't think he could win. After seeing Lightfoot's speech, I must admit, I am glad that she won. As you pointed out, she may be just what this city needs -- a reformer who can truly pull this city together.

As for those concerned about the business side of things, a more peaceful/harmonious city will make this city more attractive to invest in/corporate relocations. And Lightfoot is smart enough to bring in the right people that will help attract big business to this city.

What must NOT happen is Peckwinkle. We must do everything we can lawfully do to make sure that woman never sees city hall.

[Via Chicago]

joyce won both airports. impressive.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

joyce won both airports. impressive.

I guess Ken Griffin would have been better off paying Joyce a million dollars to stop running.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I guess Ken Griffin would have been better off paying Joyce a million dollars to stop running.

I see what you did there... That would have pushed him to at least 19% Daley should give the millions in his coffers for the second run from Ken Griffin to Lightfoot in the General.


Its not like you can use it to buy a vacation house unless he is going to run for another post. More likely He will donate some and donate the rest to so some other Dems out running for election if that is legal, if not he should either donate it to a worthy cause or return it. There is no way he spent it all on the first election.

Well played.

[ardecila]

This a complicated topic, there’s lots of voting blocs and it goes way beyond black-white-Latino. It’s really interesting how the black community split among Preckwinkle and Wilson, with nary a vote for Lightfoot. I think many in that community don’t trust her after her years as a prosecutor working with and defending cops. Preckwinkle basically took her home turf on the South Lakefront, plus a respectable share citywide from CTU people and progressives. The more hardscrabble black neighborhoods on the South Side, plus the West Side, went for Wilson.

For white North Side voters that are predictably appalled by Chicago corruption, the Burke-Solis scandal breaking just weeks ago rocked this election. It knocked out Mendoza as a choice for North Side voters and probably reminded them in even stronger terms why they should not elect another Daley. Lightfoot was there with a strong ground game to capture those disaffected voters far more effectively than Vallas, Enyia, or the other remaining candidates, and she could plausibly claim to be a crusader against corruption.

[galleyfox]

Take a look at the map of the second place finishers in each ward though. That's where things get interesting between Lightfoot and Preckwinkle.

[Chicago Shawn]

And of course the plot twist I sure didn’t see coming tonight:

Jerry Joyce of Mount Greenwood is the son of Jeremiah Joyce, former alderman and state senator and strong ally of the Daleys. Mt Greenwood being a neighborhood full of public safety and city employees and a traditional stronghold for the Daley Dynasty, came out strong for Jerry. It had the highest number of votes of any ward tonight.

In short, if Jerry Joyce didn’t run, Bill Daley would be in the runoff

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

And of course the plot twist I sure didn’t see coming tonight:

Jerry Joyce of Mount Greenwood is the son of Jeremiah Joyce, former alderman and state senator and strong ally of the Daleys. Mt Greenwood being a neighborhood full of public safety and city employees and a traditional stronghold for the Daley Dynasty, came out strong for Jerry. It had the highest number of votes of any ward tonight.

In short, if Jerry Joyce didn’t run, Bill Daley would be in the runoff

Yep, Joyce pretty much ruined Daley’s chances

[Kenmore]

Results were good, glad to see forum conservatives having temper tantrums

[UPChicago]

I really don't know who will win the runoff but I'm happy with either. Toni came second in many of Lori's Wards and Lori came second in many of Daley's Wards. Toni will get most of, if not all of Wilson's wards. I think Mendoza and Joyce's wards are the toss-ups.

[the urban politician]

Well, unlike Aldermen who can just cater to a predominant group in their ward and still win, the Mayoral election is all about coalition building.

So as I said before, making it to the runoff is fine, but the winner of the final election will need to prove that they can “move the needle” a bit to appeal to other groups.

Preckwinkle seems a bit more locked into her positions, and is actually hemmed down a bit by the CTU. Lightfoot is in a much better position to seek out votes from groups that voted for Daley, Joyce, Mendoza, Chico, etc if she is smart about it. Also, I’m confused how Willie Wilson (endorsed by the GOP) voters would suddenly flock to Preckwinkle—she’s the opposite of a Republican.

There are two huge blocks of money in Chicago: union money and business money. If Lightfoot is smart she will try to go after the latter.

[ardecila]

^ I'm unclear how Lightfoot will perform in Daley/Joyce (cop/white ethnic) wards, though.

Her relationship to the police department during her career puts her at odds with both rank-and-file cops, and the Black community at large. Cops see her as an enemy of the police, while Black voters see her as a an ally of the police. Her sexual orientation doesn't endear her to these groups, either, which tend toward a more conservative social view. I expect the Black community at large to go for Preckwinkle... for the white ethnics, I think they've got more of a dilemma. Both candidates will be in the uncomfortable position of courting white ethnics who are loathe to see any Black mayor.

I also expect to see both candidates focus on Latino wards as the key swing group in this election, since their only representative candidate Mendoza was eliminated and they're definitely not a lock for Preckwinkle.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ I'm unclear how Lightfoot will perform in Daley/Joyce (cop/white ethnic) wards, though.

Her relationship to the police department during her career puts her at odds with both rank-and-file cops, and the Black community at large. Cops see her as an enemy of the police, while Black voters see her as a an ally of the police. Her sexual orientation doesn't endear her to these groups, either, which tend toward a more conservative social view. I expect the Black community at large to go for Preckwinkle... for the white ethnics, I think they've got more of a dilemma. Both candidates will be in the uncomfortable position of courting white ethnics who are loathe to see any Black mayor.

I also expect to see both candidates focus on Latino wards as the key swing group in this election, since their only representative candidate Mendoza was eliminated and they're definitely not a lock for Preckwinkle.

I agree, I’m just counting on them viewing her as a better choice than Preckwinkle, who also has a similar stance on Police accountability

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I was reading some of her positions on her responses to Crains. A lot of her positions are pretty moderate. She even seems to advocate for eliminating pensions for future public employees. It also seems like she's against rent control and she opposes a city income tax and head tax. Though does mention a need for "progressive taxes" without ever fully explaining what that could be. So all around not that bad.

The elimination of pensions for future employees would be a godsend as would the reform of the building code. Talk about ways to actually improve affordability in the city: stop flushing money down the drain with pensions and stop forcing people to use technology that is way more expensive and has been obsolete for 50 years in construction.

Originally Posted by ardecila

Her sexual orientation doesn't endear her to these groups, either, which tend toward a more conservative social view.

This is a fact that has been totally overlooked with all the discussion of "wow Chicago will see it's first African American Woman Mayor". Lightfoot would also be Chicago's first LGBTQ mayor.

I'd like to think that, in today's era and a race between two black women, not a whole lot of people are going to be motivated by sexual orientation. Maybe I'm ignorant though...

[UPChicago]

Why all the hate for Preckwinkle, other than the sugar tax and the penny tax her record as board president has been great and she has made real reforms and other incremental changes which have greatly benefited the county. The county is in much better condition under her than under her predecessor, that's a fact.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by UPChicago

Why all the hate for Preckwinkle

CTU endorsement = no fucking way in hell for me.

i hope to Pizza God that Lightfoot wins.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by UPChicago

Why all the hate for Preckwinkle, other than the sugar tax and the penny tax her record as board president has been great and she has made real reforms and other incremental changes which have greatly benefited the county. The county is in much better condition under her than under her predecessor, that's a fact.

Time to end the machine. Plain and simple. Peckwinkle is an old school pay to play/patronage politician through and through. For a city finally taking substantial steps to clean up corruption, electing her would be a major step backwards.