Countdown to Rahmageddon: Meet the New Boss
By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 23, 2011 2:12PM
In the end, it was no contest. ABC7's Ron Magers said it best when he said, "We barely had time to catch our breaths, when it was over."
Much like his mayoral campaign, the projections from local media that Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor had an anticlimactic sense of inevitability. And he won the election handily, winning 55 percent of the total votes cast. Over a five-month campaign, Emanuel built a coalition of supporters from across a wide range of ages, races and ethnicities that he said it empowers him to handle the challenges ahead. “What makes this victory most gratifying is that it was built on votes from every corner of the city from people who believe that a common set of challenges must be met with a common purpose,” Emanuel said.
The ward-by ward results from yesterday bear that out. Emanuel won every ward that wasn't old-school Machine or largely Hispanic, winning 40 0f 50 wards, dominating along the lakefront and winning more than 50 percent of the vote in African American wards. Emanuel doubled up Carol Moseley Braun in winning the Black vote. Emanuel's support in African American wards was one of ten reasons Sun-Times political pundit Lynn Sweet listed for the Emanuel victory.
The voter turnout, at a low 41.62 percent, also contributed to the Emanuel victory. It was nearly 10 points lower than city projections and, in our opinion, embarrassing for an election with such historical significance.
The dust has barely settled and already the media is looking at the economic and budget factors that could contribute to Emanuel being a one-term mayor.