Chicago MoveOn Members Pick Chuy Garcia As Their Man

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 10, 2015 7:00PM

Chicago members of the progressive political coalition MoveOn endorsed Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for mayor earlier this week, citing the Cook County Commissioner's ability to forge a broad progressive coalition with his campaign in a short period of time while condemning Mayor Rahm Emanuel's policies during his time in office.

Garcia has made significant strides with his campaign since he announced his candidacy in late October., received endorsements from the likes of Cook County Clerk David Orr and ailing Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis.

The Sun-Times asks if the MoveOn endorsement will result in more campaign donations for Garcia. The point may be moot if labor unions hellbent on seeing Emanuel voted out of office have their way. With campaign contribution caps in the mayoral campaign lifted courtesy of pundit and television producer William Kelly's $100,000 donation to his own aborted campaign, organized labor have funneled five-and six-figure donations to Garcia's mayoral campaign. Thanks to the combination of no fundraising limits and union endorsements, Garcia raised more money than Emanuel in the final three months of 2014.

If that continues, Garcia is on pace to raise more than $1 million before the Feb. 24 election. Another question the Sun-Times asks is whether Garcia can raise enough money to begin airing campaign ads, something Emanuel has been doing for weeks thanks to his overwhelming fundraising advantage. So far, Garcia and Ald. Bob Fioretti have been unable to make their attacks on Emanuel's record stick. Campaign ads can go a long way toward that and force Emanuel out of his comfort zone and into defending his record.

It's shaping up to be an interesting six weeks.