Chicago mayors race

Am I the only Chicagoan left? I’m shocked that we don’t have a thread for the Chicago mayors race. Anyone vote yet?

I don't live in the city. I haven't been following this.

Gotta love the ads where Bill Daley promises to "shake up Chicago" or some shit.

This seemed to come upon us from out of nowhere.

Mostly on some "Anyone but Daley" bullshit. Liked Enyia early but her money problems and accepting an endorsement from Dorothy Brown cooled me on her. Surprised to see Lightfoot surging in the polls. Would probably go Preckwinkle or Mendoza in the inevitable runoff but will probably land on Lightfoot in the primary.

But seriously, fuck Daley.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/02/chicago-election-2019-socialists-rahm
I'm always posting Jacobin links but that article provides a really good summary of the buildup to this municipal election and what it means for the city as a whole. Tl;dr: There is very little to get excited about in the mayoral election but there is a possibility for meaningful political resistance in the City Council (and also through the election of people like Ameya Pawar for Treasurer who actually was not referenced in that article).

How does Ed Burke get re-elected?

Voter fraud? The guy seems pretty good at crime!

If you're in power for 50 years you have a lot of momentum to burn up when going against relatively unknown challengers. That said, his days are probably numbered.

It was an otherwise really great night. Depending on the result of the runoffs, Chicago should end up with the largest socialist caucus in any city council in the nation. Also, while there are questions to be asked about both Lightfoot and Preckwinkle they are both waaaaayyyy better than Daley. They both support an elected school board as well, which is a huge win for CTU.

Good job Chicago!

techno raj wrote:If you're in power for 50 years you have a lot of momentum to burn up when going against relatively unknown challengers. That said, his days are probably numbered.

Also it's not like voters haven't known.

Disappointing turnout from young folks. Feel like Enyia lost the most because of that.

Any thoughts on if moving the primary to like March might improve turnout?

It probably wouldn't significantly chance anything. There should never be another election that takes place in this country on anything other than a Saturday or Sunday. It's the most idiotic thing ever. The importance of civic engagement needs to be taught and instilled in our public schools as well. Rather than boring government glasses about legislative procedure, there should be courses on the historical importance of social movements in this country.

I'm also totally cool with compulsory voting like they had for decades in post-War Italy. They consistently had 95+% voter turnout in those years. I don't know what the punishment would have been for those unwilling to participate, but I would also support a poll tax/fine for anyone unwilling to voter as long as adequate access is established throughout the entire country (which is kind of a big 'if' but whatever).

I think you should have a few days to vote like you get when you do a mail in ballot. Also, companies could do a bit more to accommodate voters. How about a 2 hour voter break? Maybe you do the breaks in groups so over and 8 hour shift 4 groups could go vote throughout the day. That coupled with extra time to vote would fix the turnout problem. At this point with the popularity of mail in ballots it just makes no sense to force everyone else to do it in 1 day.

Well, there's weeks of early voting. I voted on a Friday after work. The full AVR rollout next year may help somewhat.

But low voter turnout is more about (1 the outcome being so far removed from the individual vote and (2 the tendency of people to vote for social affiliation and emotional affirmation rather than because of fact-based analysis.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVYR82hqu5/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=XPi2uAAAAAHzXKuaVr-VY1uAWFeA

Is there a Chicago date that’s not on here?

Why is Chicago not in this video?

undo wrote:https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVYR82hqu5/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=XPi2uAAAAAHzXKuaVr-VY1uAWFeA

Is there a Chicago date that’s not on here?

https://riotfest.org/chicago/lineup/