CHICAGO — In case you didn't know, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants your vote.
With television ads already airing, the mayor officially announced his re-election bid Saturday afternoon at Cinsepace Studios in Lawndale.
"I’m running for another term as mayor because our job is not done – our job to make sure that every child and family in our city, no matter who they are or where they live, has the chance to succeed," he said. "And I’ll work hard every day to move us closer to that goal."
With $10.5 million in his campaign coffers, the mayor already holds a significant advantage over his two foremost competitors, Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
Emanuel was joined Saturday by supporters and his campaign co-chairs U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago), state Senate President John Cullerton, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza.
Emanuel has spent recent days celebrating a City Council victory in raising the city's minimum wage to $13 an hour, and touring the future site of a Whole Foods in Englewood. He has been beset in recent weeks by allegations of improper campaign donations from companies that manage the city's pension fund, and complaints he took credit for closing two coal plants on the South Side.
On Saturday, he listed his accomplishments, citing the minimum wage hike, a longer school day and higher graudation rates, improving the City Colleges - and giving qualified CPS students scholarships.
The mayor touted infrastructure improvements, like the CTA's Red Line South project. He looked ahead to improvements on the north branch of the Red Line, and the Blue Line, and said he'd bring high-speed Internet hook ups to every neighborhood.
"In so many important areas over the past four years, we have made steady progress – from reducing crime to adding jobs, from repaving streets to improving schools," Emanuel said. "But our progress means little – and doesn’t live up to our common aspirations – if the benefits do not extend to every corner of our city; to every family and every child who calls Chicago home."
He said a vote for him is a vote for progress: "There is a real choice in this race – whether we go back to the old Chicago that only worked for some, or continue forward building a new Chicago that works for everyone."
Fioretti said he was the candidate to bridge a gap between "two Chicagos": "The mayor’s policies have created two Chicagos and no amount of campaign cash or TV ads can change that fact. Chicagoans want a new direction and are ready for a vision of safe streets and strong neighborhoods."
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