- Brian Jackson / Sun-Times Media
- Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. argues—and hopes—that his support for the policies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel won’t haunt him at election time.
It’s increasingly clear that in the upcoming municipal elections, everyone will be running against Mayor Emanuel in one way or another.
This is especially the case in black and Hispanic areas that have borne the brunt of the mayor’s closings and cuts. And if Lewis, Fioretti, or other mayoral candidates inspire pissed-off people to get to the polls—which hasn’t happened in big numbers since the 1980s—lots of aldermen could be in trouble.
This is a mantra you’re going to hear from the mayor and his allies for the next five months: Emanuel needs to work on his communication skills but has made some tough decisions.
And his justifications for his voting record are wishful thinking, according to veteran political consultant Delmarie Cobb.
Excitement around Lewis or Fioretti could change the equation. When Harold Washington was elected mayor in 1983, a number of challengers “came in on his coattails” and displaced City Council veterans, Cobb notes.
“I’ll stand with them if there’s something like a press conference on guns that I believe in, but I reserve the right to do my own thing,” he says. “Maybe that’s why I don’t have a committee.”
