Since moving away from Chicago, I’ve paid little attention to its depressing political scene. The city’s last Republican mayor left office in 1931. In a handful of elections since then, Republicans have had a wisp of a chance. The last such occasion was 1983, when Bernie Epton might have defeated Harold Washington and slowed, probably only slightly, the city’s ensuing decay, had it not gone off on a Caribbean holiday over the final weekend of the campaign.
I was so inattentive this year that I hadn’t noticed that the election is scheduled for February 28th. It’s nominally the “general election” but is, in reality, the Democratic primary, since a candidate must get a majority of the votes in order to avoid a runoff (scheduled for April 4th). There are nine candidates this year. The only one you’ve heard of, unless you live within the range of Chicago political advertising or are a terminal political junkie, is incumbent Lori Lightheadfoot, a strong contender for America’s Craziest Mayor honors.
Grace Curley, who lives in Boston and therefore is familiar with dysfunctional city governments, has written an optimistic appraisal of the election, “Is the end of Lori Lightfoot?”, in which she recounts a selection of Lightfoot scandals, some of them bizarre. Here is the latest, though not the oddest:
On Thursday, news broke that the mayor’s campaign had sent an email attempting to recruit Chicago Public School students to “help” with the incumbent’s reelection effort. The students would earn class credit in exchange for their contributions.
After this unethical email made its way to the press, prompting outrage from other candidates in the race, Team Lightfoot sloppily attempted to backtrack – not once, but three times.
The first statement explained that the effort was designed “to provide young people with the opportunity to engage with our campaign, learn more about the importance of civic engagement and participate in the most American of processes.” It was for the children, don’t you see?
The following statements assured the public that Team Lightfoot would cease contact with CPS employees.
Later that day, it was revealed that recruiting emails were not just sent to CPS teachers but also to instructors at the City Colleges of Chicago. Many hands make light work!
When addressing the media, Lightfoot did what all desperate politicians do when in a bind: she blamed a young staffer for the disaster.
Maybe this will be the year that Lori’s light goes out, but that is scarcely likely to be a change for the better, for this is an election in which every contender is worse than all the rest. Of the other two leading candidates, one is running to the mayor’s left and the other got his start in politics as an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, one of the most anti-education organizations in the country.
Whatever the outcome, I’m glad that I won’t have to live with its consequences.