David Orr Endorses Garcia As 'Someone Who Will Listen'
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 1, 2014 10:50PM
Cook County Clerk David Orr (left) and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia almost certainly have the 12,500 valid signatures necessary to be included on the February ballot so the task for each of them now turns to garnering endorsements and, in the case of Emanuel, possibly overstating your involvement in shutting down coal-fired electric plants.
Emanuel turned in 44,000 signatures, down from 90,000 four years ago and possibly a sign the people his campaign hired to pass petitions did the bare minimum for their money. Garcia, meanwhile, turned in 60,000 signatures—a feat that wasn't lost on Cook County Clerk David Orr as he endorsed Garcia for mayor.
“The mayor, with millions, has a hard time getting signatures on his petitions. Chuy Garcia in three weeks time, spending no money — all volunteers — got 60-some thousand," Orr said. "In another week, they probably would have gotten 90,000.”
Orr, who was one of Mayor Harold Washington's more progressive lieutenants during the "Council Wars" and had a cup of coffee as mayor between Washington's 1987 death and City Council appointing Eugene Sawyer as Washington's successor, said there's a progressive political groundswell happening nationally and Chicago is ready for a progressive mayor.
Rahm Emanuel, Orr added, is not that mayor.
“We have progressive mayors [in cities] around the [U.S.] — Chicago is not one of them,” Orr said. "Chuy is just like these people all across the country . . . where the people said ‘We need someone who really understands and works for all the people.’”
Orr called Garcia "someone who will listen to people, someone who understands" and "the kind of person that can show people that there is trust and goodness and hope to make the city a better place for everybody.”