Dart Not Running For Mayor

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 27, 2010 7:45PM

The wide open field of Mayoral candidates narrowed today when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced he would not run for mayor. Dart cited family commitments as the reason he was not running, but Dan Mihalopoulos, reporting for Early and Often, writes that Dart was faced with the grim reality that any money he could raise for a mayoral campaign would pale in comparison to the money pipeline Rahm Emanuel will have at his disposal. Mihalopoulos's source said Dart's consultants, Joe Trippi and Tom Lindenfeld, couldn't find a scenario where Dart could raise even half as much as the war chest predicted for Emanuel.

With Dart's announcement, the field narrows to Emanuel, who is a certainty to run despite taking his time in making the formal announcement,and a tumbleweed of also-rans. It remains to be seen if Rev. James Meeks makes a formal announcement. He and former Senator Carol Moseley Braun are considered the frontrunners to becoming the "consensus" Black candidate for mayor.

For those of you with a gambling streak, Beachwood Reporter's Steve Rhodes has already updated his mayoral odds board. Don't bet on the mudders.