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Leslie Hairston Backs Garcia, Only South Lakefront Alderman To Do So

By Sam Cholke | April 6, 2015 2:56pm
 Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) claimed Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not helping South Shore, particularly at the former Dominick's, and said Garcia would do more.
Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) claimed Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not helping South Shore, particularly at the former Dominick's, and said Garcia would do more.
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Courtesy Leslie Hairston

HYDE PARK — In a last-minute endorsement, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) has thrown her support behind Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in his attempt to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the Tuesday runoff election.

Hairston is the only sitting alderman on the south lakefront to back Garcia.

All other aldermen along the southern shoreline have either endorsed Emanuel, like Ald. Natashia Holmes (7th) and Ald. Will Burns (4th), or remained neutral, like Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) and Ald. John Pope (10th).

In a statement announcing her endorsement, Hairston said that Emanuel has not done enough to help the 5th Ward during his first term and specifically has fallen short in his efforts to replace the former Dominick’s that shuttered in December 2013.

“I’ve heard this mayor make announcements in other wards as if they were gifts to be doled out as rewards for voting with him,” Hairston said of developments championed by Emanuel’s administration. “This is petty politics.”

The South Shore Dominick’s is the last of the locations that does not have a tenant lined up after the chain shuttered all its stores in 2013. The property owner said after Hairston pressured the city to pursue taking the building through eminent domain that he has a tenant prepared to move in, but a lease has not been signed.

Hairston said Emanuel won the mayor’s seat in 2011 thanks to African-American voters, but he has not done enough to serve black communities, which is why she endorsed Garcia.

“I believe that he’ll fight to bring resources to every part of the city, not just downtown,” Hairston said. “I believe that he’ll serve in the tradition of another 5th Ward resident, Mayor Harold Washington — who knew the value of building strong neighborhoods at the same time as preserving the city’s business district.”

The 5th Ward was one of the few areas of the south lakefront where voters were truly divided between Emanuel and Garcia during the Feb. 24 election.

Chicago Forward, the independent expenditure committee aligned with Emanuel, did spend close to $4,000 on a mailer promoting Hairston in the lead-up to her re-election on Feb. 24.

“The piece was about increasing the minimum wage,” said Delmarie Cobb, a spokeswoman for Hairston’s campaign. “It was more about piggy backing on Leslie, than helping her.”

She said the campaign was not aware of the mailer until 5th Ward voters reported seeing it in their mailboxes.

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