He was once known as Rep. Emanuel. Then he was known as Chief (of Staff) Emanuel. But now, you may simply call him Mr. Mayor.
Last night, the city of Chicago overwhelmingly decided they wanted former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to be the new mayor of Chicago. Emanuel’s crushing victory over his 5 political rivals marks a new political dawning in the nation’s 3rd largest city — a dawning without the retiring Richard M. Daley. Yesterday’s election was the city’s first mayoral race in more than 20 years without a member of the Daley family among the candidates, a family that led Chicago for more than 43 out of the last 56 years.
Calling the victory “humbling” while thanking Daley for his lifetime of service, Emanuel said outgoing mayor Daley had “earned a special place in our hearts and our history.” But he added: “We have not won anything until a kid can go to school thinking of their studies and not their safety. Until the parent of that child is thinking about their work and not where they are going to find work, we have not won anything.”
Hopefully Mayor-elect Emanuel enjoyed a night of champagne and celebration, since he will soon be responsible for fixing a myriad of problems, including the city’s finances, underfunded employee pensions and a shrinking urban population. He will also have to decide quickly on the politically tricky challenge of possibly raising taxes while cutting city services and public employee benefits. Hmmm…
Good Luck, Mr. Mayor!
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No offense but this is almost not news. Everybody knew Rahm was going to get elected mayor. Happy its all over with now.