The Mob in Chicago, Still Thriving - Rahm Emanuel Voted Next Mayor
Source: nymag.com
Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, besting School Board head Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle with 55 percent of the vote and avoiding a runoff in the crowded six-way race.
"All I can say, you sure know how to make a guy feel at home," Emanuel said at his victory party in a plumbers union hall. Emanuel, who will be Chicago's first Jewish mayor, and most likely its first former ballet dancer mayor, used a major fund-raising advantage and an endorsement from President Obama, who said Emanuel would make a "terrific" mayor, to draw votes from across the city's white, black, and Hispanic voting blocs. Chico was a distant second with 24 percent of the vote, followed by del Valle at 9.3 percent and Carol Moseley Braun at 9 percent.
After Emanuel overcame a legal challenge that questioned whether he had fulfilled a residency requirement, he was the overwhelming favorite. He succeeds Richard Daley, mayor since 1989. Oddly enough, Daley's brother William succeeded Rahm as White House chief of staff.
Source: nymag.com
