Chuy meets with NYC unions, Newark’s mayor on East Coast tour

By nkorecki

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is on a fundraising swing on the East Coast early this week, where he planned meetings with New York City union members and high school principal-turned-Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Garcia is to hit Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

The mayoral candidate first swung through New York City on Monday, where the United Federation of Teachers, Working Family Party and two sections of SEIU held a reception and fundraiser to support Garcia’s bid to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Garcia has ridden a wave of support by progressives both locally and nationally, in part, because of his backing of an elected school board, something that’s central to his education platform.

But on the same day that Garcia landed in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, the poster boy for the progressive movement and its successes, sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo with a drastically different stance on the topic.

“Mayor de Blasio strongly supports the permanent extension of mayoral control of New York City public schools,” de Blasio spokesman Phil Walzak said Monday.

That’s a view shared by Emanuel.

Garcia was to meet with Baraka on Monday night. Baraka was elected in a highly contentious race last year and is grappling with high violent crime and unemployment in Newark. Baraka has also done battle with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over charter school expansions.

The East Coast tour comes after Garcia flew to the West Coast last week. He met with Latino leaders, producers and executives in Los Angeles for a fundraiser. A recent campaign filing shows at least $15,000 from Los Angeles-based donors.