Why Chicago Mayoral Candidate Chuy Garcia Has an Uphill Problem
By Victor Landa, NewsTaco
It’s important that within a month a Latino candidate could become the Mayor of the nation’s third largest city. That he’ll win or not is the center of a whirlwind of speculation. The candidate, Chuy Garcia, backed incumbent Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff, and a win is said to rest on Black and Latino voters. So at this point it’s a ground game – who can get more Blacks and Latinos to vote for him. A story in today’s Chicago Sun Times says that in Chicago’s Latino commuity Chuy’s work is a little more complicated, because in order to get Latinos to vote for him he’s got to get them to the polls.
On the policy side, some observers – like Elias Cepeda from NBC Chicago – are thinking that Garcia missed an opportunity by being unprepared to counter Emanuel’s falling short of his previous campaign promises – to fix the city’s budget woes, to combat gang activity, to make the city’s schools better – that would have benefited Chicago’s Latinos. Garcia didn’t have a concrete plan in place and has been slow and in some cases contradictory in puting a plan together.It hasn’t gone unoticed tht Garcia’s campaig was a late sart – he steped-in when a previous candiae boewd-out for health reasons.
It doesn’t help Garcia that only one Chicago Alderman has backed him. Chicago Magazine reports that Alderman Rick Muñoz is a long time Garcia supporter and has voted against Mayor Emanuel on several occasions.
The ltest articles on the Garcia – Emanuel race are below.
Chicago Candidate With Sunny Attitude Is Cloudy on Specifics
By Julie Bosman, The New York Times
CHICAGO – When asked for his position on the pressing issues facing Chicago, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, the man rying to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel, often has an answer – and sometimes more than one.
Whe Mr. Garcia was recently asked what he would do about the red-light cameras that endlessly irk Chicagoans, he said he would keep some of them. But almost two weeks ago, he had said he would get rid of them all.
Click HERE to read the full sotry.
How Chuy Garcia Missed a Golden Opportunity
By Elias Cepeda, NBC Chicago
Both candidates for mayor of Chicago have now announced their eagerly anticipated plans to address the city’s budget woes, and in just two days they will face off in their first head-to-head. But still, we appear no closer to getting real, complete and straight talk on finances from either candidate.
Both Rahm Emanuel and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia suggested some good — though vague — ideas for how the city should begin trimming the tiniest bits of fat from the edges by improving efficiency in order to save cash. However, neither one presented many new ideas, nor anything resembling a complete and balanced budget plan.
Click HERE to read the full story.
Getting Hispanics to the polls in Chicago mayor’s race no slam dunk for Chuy
By Natasha Korecki, Chicago Sun Times
If you stand outside a supermercado in Logan Square for an hour, there are few locals who haven’t heard of him.
“Chuy!” they’ll say with clear recognition when asked about the mayoral race.
The Mexico-born Jesus “Chuy” Garcia hasn’t had a problem clearing the first hurdle with Latinos, having instant name recognition with the base of voters he hopes to tap in his bid to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Still, Garcia’s campaign has yet to show he can mobilize a group to the polls that is historically underrepresented.
Click HERE to read the full story.
Why Ald. Rick Munoz Is the Only Latino Caucus Member Supporting Chuy
By CArol FElsenthal, Chicago Magazine
Ald. Ricardo Munoz, the 22nd Ward alderman since 1993, is the only member of the Council’s Latino Caucus who backs Chuy Garcia. His colleagues have signed on with Rahm Emanuel, but Munoz, 50, can’t say enough good things about his Little Village neighbor, mentor, and sponsor.
When I last met with Munoz, just six months after Rahm breezed into office in 2011, he seemed enamored of Rahm, telling me that he met regularly with the rookie mayor, exchanged texts often, and that Rahm was responsive to requests. Things between the two have cooled considerably since, perhaps because Munoz, who is also a member of the Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus, occasionally votes against the mayor.*
Click HERE to reda the full story.
[Photo by Eric Allix Rogers/Flickr]