The Sixth Ward: Capitol Fax: CFL takes a pass on mayor’s race #ChiMayor19

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Capitol Fax: CFL takes a pass on mayor’s race #ChiMayor19

I wanted to highlight what's interesting about the coming run-off next month between Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot from yesterday's post by Rich Miller.

CFL takes a pass on mayor’s race https://t.co/Gu48iTaZMR
— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 4, 2019

I think Preckwinkle’s biggest problem is that people who voted for everyone else in the first round did so at least partly because they couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the purported “front-runner” - and that would be 84 percent of those who voted. Few really know who Lori Lightfoot is, which as a commenter pointed out earlier today is most definitely a big help at this point in the campaign. It’s hers to lose right now because she’s 1) not Toni Preckwinkle; and 2) a blank slate.

Preckwinkle has to firmly and quickly take Lightfoot down, gin up the aldermen with the warning that Lightfoot will take away their outside income and their ward prerogatives, hand out as much patronage as she can lay her hands on, get the church ladies on her side and otherwise rehabilitate her own image (although the latest poll found that, despite it all, she still has a 53-37 fav/unfav rating). All in four short weeks.

Whew.

Not to mention that yet another self-inflicted wound could prove politically fatal. She’d also better hope that nothing happens with the federal case against Ald. Ed Burke in the next few weeks.

Who might eke out the win for the mayor's office in April.

Allow me to share a tweet from Newsalert's Steve Bartin the latest poll for the runoff and it seems both candidates are already out with the ads for the runoff.