-By Warner Todd Huston
Interesting news, here, of the newest endorsement for Chicago Mayor. Congressman Luis Gutierrez has officially endorsed Gery Chico for Mayor. This is a big “get” for Chico.
I suppose it isn’t surprising that Gutierrez has turned against Emanuel. As we reported in Nov., there is no love lost between Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Gutierrez.
It is also telling that Gutierrez didn’t endorse Miguel Del Valle. There seems to be little doubt that the top three candidates are Emanuel, Carol Moseley Braun (whose campaign is troubled to say the least) and Gery Chico. If Gutierrez wanted to play a sly politics game he could easily have picked Del Valle to satisfy his Hispanic supporters and then casually switched to Emanuel (the power broker) once Del Valle quit the race (which it is highly likely he’ll do).
But Gutierrez picked Chico, a candidate that is actually in the running, showing that he does want to back a winner.
Here is Chico’s press release:
(CHICAGO) U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) today strongly endorsed Gery Chico to be the next mayor of Chicago. Calling Chico “by far the most qualified candidate in the race,” Gutierrez praised the former school board president’s track record of delivering results for all Chicago neighborhoods.
“Every time Gery was called to serve the people of Chicago, he delivered,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez said. “No other candidate has balanced 16 budgets. No other candidate has built bridges across racial, ethnic and geographic lines like Gery has. Gery Chico is simply the best candidate to lead Chicago right now.”
At a news conference hosted at the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Chico campaign also unveiled a new television advertisement featuring Rep. Gutierrez, which will begin airing on Spanish language television Tuesday. View the ad at GeryChico.com. Chico thanked Gutierrez for his support and praised his advocacy for immigration reform.
“There is no elected official more committed or more passionate about protecting and advocating for our nation’s immigrant community than Rep. Gutierrez,” Gery Chico said. “I am honored to have his support and look forward to working together on important issues like immigration reform.”
Gutierrez worked with Chico when he served as mayoral chief of staff and Gutierrez was a city alderman. Gutierrez said Chico was “hands-on” and always a “step ahead” when it came to meeting the needs of Chicago’s neighborhoods.
“Whether it was helping a business navigate red tape or fixing a street, Gery showed up and got the job done,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez was the latest example of Chico’s strong support in the Latino community. Among Chico’s supporters are Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, Ald. Danny Solis (25th), Ald. Joe Moreno (1st), Ald. George Cardenas (12th), former Ald. Manny Flores, the Mexican American Police Organization and the Latin American Police Association.
“We have the chance to make history by electing the first Latino mayor,” Gutierrez said. “But the next mayor of Chicago must represent all communities. When I was an alderman under Mayor Harold Washington, I saw the kind of diverse, committed leadership and coalition-building skills it took to accomplish important things for our city. It is time for that kind of leadership again.”
Chico’s resume is built for mayor of Chicago. Chico served as the president of Chicago Public Schools, where he led the building and renovation of schools in every part of the city; president of the Chicago Park District, where he built parks and playgrounds in every community; and chairman of the City Colleges, where he began the reinvention of the City Colleges to focus on job training and equip young people for available work. For more information, please visit GeryChico.com.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
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