Toni Preckwinkle is the front-runner in the race for mayor of Chicago, sort of. According to a Sun-Times poll conducted by We Ask America, Preckwinkle and Daley are “nominal” front-runners with Preckwinkle at 12.7 percent and Daley at 12.1. The We Ask America poll also found that in hypothetical runoffs, Preckwinkle would lose—though not by much—to both Mendoza and Daley.
Bowen—who worked as deputy campaign manager for Rahm Emanuel in 2011, has managed City Council and Senate campaigns, and worked on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign—said that running for mayor of Chicago is more like a presidential campaign, with TV and radio stations and major newspapers putting a microscope to candidates. Preckwinkle positioned herself as a progressive working outside of the political machine. Yet the truth is more complex, and her campaign did not seem to be ready for the intense scrutiny that comes with an election, including allegations of “inappropriate behavior” against her former chief of staff. Preckwinkle has faced scrutiny for being the “Boss,” someone who is a part of and has benefited from Chicago’s giant, often corrupt Democratic apparatus.
“I won’t have my name dragged through the mud over the alleged criminal conduct of Susana Mendoza’s mentor, Gery Chico’s best friend, and Bill Daley’s longtime political ally,” she wrote in the statement, referring to Burke and throwing her mayoral contenders under the bus. “Cynics says that corruption and Chicago politics go together. I have never accepted that. I have spent my career taking on the good old boys’ club.”
Betty O’Shaughnessy, a visiting lecturer in political science at UIC and coauthor of Winning Elections in the 21st Century with Simpson, said that the scandals around Preckwinkle and Mendoza look ugly. “It depends on how they handle all of this in the next week or two. Because what you’re going see is the other top candidates are going to be jumping on it.”
