Don’t expect to see Mayor Rahm Emanuel; his wife, Amy Rule, and a tail-wagging hound in the next TV spot in Chicago’s mayoral race.
It seems Chicago’s first lady is not ready to step into the limelight as did Diana Rauner during her husband’s gubernatorial campaign last year.
After one media outlet on Wednesday suggested otherwise, the Emanuel campaign issued a statement essentially saying nothing had changed.
“Ms. Rule continues to support her husband’s re-election, as she has throughout his entire political career,” Emanuel campaign spokesman Steve Mayberry said in an email.
Crain’s Chicago Business had reported that Rule was to play a more visible role within her husband’s campaign in an attempt to offer a dose of softening around the edges.
Rule, who long has had the reputation of being publicity-shy, particularly when compared to her husband’s high volume, was to speak at Friedman Place on the Northwest Side on Monday. Later Wednesday, after the Crain’s report, however, Emanuel’s campaign said the event was off.
“The event has been postponed to a date to be determined,” Mayberry wrote in an email.
Rule has kept a low profile throughout Emanuel’s political career, unlike Diana Rauner, who as Illinois’ first lady caused a stir by hiring a $100,000-a-year chief of staff.
After Gov. Bruce Rauner prevailed in the Republican primary battle last spring, Diana Rauner began to appear alongside her husband in TV spots in which she vouched for her husband, saying he held no social agenda. The move served to soften Bruce Rauner’s profile and endear him to women.
In the ads, Diana Rauner said she was a Democrat, but the two were able to get along. Campaign contributions from Diana Rauner, however, showed she had donated sizable sums to Republicans.
