This is the 3rd time I've had to do a political earthquake thread in IL within a year and I'm tired folks! Anyway, let's play out some #ChicagoMayor stuff. First, Rahm's coalition is hard to repeat and win w/ Lightfoot in the race. There's always been some suspicion that she 1/
would have a hard time getting Af Am vote, but that's anecdotal evidence, not real data. I think she'll be just fine. However, that's assuming there are no other credible Af Am candidates. That probably changes now because running for Chicago Mayor is also a path to getting 2/
your name ID up there for an eventual 2020 congressional run. You have to assume Summers gets into this race. In my mind, the 800 lb gorilla is Lisa Madigan. She's got a couple million dollars on hand and a strong profile. She'd be an instant front runner and put Lightfoot in 3/
a box most likely. Again, she has a couple million on hand already. The other thing to watch out for is whether the Law and Order crew - McCarthy/Vallas/Joyce - just give up now because their hated enemy is gone. That might bring a NW sider out to the dance. Council - 32 has 4/
been thinking about this for a while and maybe he finally takes his shot. 47 is out of a job, so why not run the campaign he was running for Gov? It'd be a good fit. I can also see 35 putting his name in the hat. Pat Quinn might do it as well because he needs attention and 5/
can't go do anything productive with his life. Bridget Gainer has some stuff in place, but it's a tougher sell to get it all back and she doesn't have Rahm as the boogeyman anymore. She could get it back together, but the field is gonna be even tougher now w/ more candidates 6/
in the race. Don't forget that Chicago is a runoff system and once there's a few candidates in, the incentive is for more to get in. Your win number into the runoff keeps getting smaller and smaller. Finally, I'm gonna put a name out there (sorry Lauren!) that makes sense 7/
even though it's hard to turn it around: Susana Mendoza. Been elected Citywide and statewide, has relationships with labor and the right style for this office. With Rauner gone, it's a nice new challenge to take on. More thoughts later. 8/8
