Fioretti: Announcement On Mayoral Run By End Of Week

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 9, 2014 2:00PM

Someone is expected to make an announcement on a mayoral run this weekend and it isn’t Karen Lewis. While the Chicago Teachers Union president continues to tell media she’ll make a determination on a mayoral campaign when she’s damn good and ready, Ald. Bob Fioretti has scheduled a Saturday event where he is expected to make a formal announcement challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Like Lewis, Fioretti wouldn’t let the proverbial cat out of the bag but, as Sun-Times City Hall correspondent Fran Spielman writes, his grin spoke volumes. Fioretti political adviser Michael Kolenc said reporters should pencil in Saturday, with more details expected to trickle out midweek. “All we're asking is that people save the day for an important announcement,” Kolenc said.

Fioretti, one of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s strongest critics in City Council, has been testing the waters on a mayoral campaign for weeks. He and Kolenc recently placed ads seeking a campaign manager, finance director, field director and communications director. Fioretti has also been on a “listening tour” of all 50 wards and sent out an email a couple weeks back asking people if they would support his prospective mayoral campaign.

But money has been an obstacle. Emanuel has more than $8 million in his campaign war chest and the ability to raise significant amounts of cash with a simple phone call. Coupled with the pro-Emanuel “Chicago Forward” super PAC, which has $1.35 million and counting in funds to support the mayor and Emanuel-endorsed aldermanic candidates, and one can see why Fioretti is being pragmatic in making a formal announcement. Fioretti has consistently said he would need between $3 million and $5 million to mount a challenge to Emanuel. The response to his email campaign indicates he may not need that much.

“For six, seven hours, we got about 700 responses and 600 of them said, `Run, Bob, run,’ “ Fioretti said.

“Money may not be that big of an issue in this campaign now ….. The reaction that we hear from the people of this city and how we have a concentrated, concerned message — it may not be that much.”

Indeed, with Emanuel's approval ratings in the gutter, all it may take to mount a campaign against him is a smart, well-organized campaigner capable of forcing Emanuel to defend his record as mayor.

Fioretti told Spielman his eventual decision would weigh heavily on whether he can have a campaign structure in every ward and “people committed to a progressive agenda.”