On the final weekend before Tuesday’s Chicago mayoral runoff, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s famous temper was something supporters and detractors alike focused on Saturday.
In Washington Park, at get out-the-vote rally, Emanuel was joined by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
“This guy has a heart for people,” Reed told the crowd. “Does he convey it as a warmly as I believe he should? He probably doesn’t. He probably won’t win the warm conveyance process. But who do you want? You want somebody warm or fuzzy, or you want somebody that can get it done?”
Also appearing in Washington Park with Emanuel was Cleopatra Pendleton, the mother of slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel campaigning Saturday at the KLEO Community Family Lie Center on East Garield Boulevard. Tina Sfondeles / Sun-Times)
On the West Side, Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who topped a field of challengers in February to force Chicago’s first-ever mayoral runoff, appeared at a rally attended by Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis, Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and writer / activist Cornel West.
West told the crowd, largely filled with union members, “Brother Rahm is not a brother of integrity. He’s too mean and arrogant. He’s too condescending. He’s too paternalistic. That day is over. It’s a new day in Chicago.”
Early voting ended Saturday with nearly 20,000 people casting ballots Saturday, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said. Altogether, Chicagoans cast 142,344 early-voting ballots ahead of Tuesday’s runoff, the agency said — far more than the nearly 90,000 early votes cast ahead of the February election.
