CITY HALL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Ald. Ameya Pawar would make a great governor — but he hopes the 47th ward lawmaker will stay in the City Council.
The Democratic alderman revealed this week that he may challenge Republican Bruce Rauner's expected bid for re-election as governor of Illinois to push a progressive agenda in the wake of GOP businessman-turned-politician Donald Trump's election as president.
Emanuel, who lives in Ravenswood in the 47th Ward, said Wednesday he had no doubt that Pawar would give "100 percent" to whatever the alderman chooses to do after his term on the City Council expires in 2019.
"He has the intellect and the desire," Emanuel said at a news conference after Wednesday's council meeting. "I think he should stay in the City Council, but his record is worthy."
Pawar, who was elected to City Council in an upset victory in 2011, vowed to serve no more than two terms.
Nevertheless, Emanuel said he hopes he stays in the City Council. Before Wednesday's meeting, Emanuel called Pawar up to the dais to chat.
"It was about a complaint I had," Emanuel said, chuckling.
Emanuel warned the City Hall press corps not to mistake his kind words about Pawar, who has said he would be interested in being mayor if Emanuel decided not to run for re-election, as an endorsement.
The Democratic race to win the right to challenge Rauner in 2018 has been wide open since U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) declared he would not leave Congress.
The father of a 9-month-old daughter, Pawar said he believed the next Illinois governor needed to level the playing field for all Illinois residents, and end the practice of pitting groups against each other for political gain.
Emanuel Wednesday added Pawar's name to the list of Illinois elected officials that he said represented the American Dream, joining state Comptroller-elect Susana Mendoza, U.S. Sen.-elect Tammy Duckworth and Cook County State's Attorney-elect Kim Foxx.
Those politicians embody the motto of the United States of America: out of many, one, Emanuel has said.
