Chicagoans head to the polls Tuesday for a mayoral runoff election where conservatives nationwide should be rooting for someone they once considered a bitter enemy: former chief of staff to President Obama and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Emanuel’s opponent, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, is far more liberal than Emanuel. Garcia has the backing of a laundry list of liberal progressives, including Howard Dean, Jesse Jackson Sr., the Chicago Teachers Union, the Service Employees International Union’s State Council, the National Education Association, and MoveOn.org.
Garcia’s Chicago would be a conservative nightmare. He wants to put a moratorium on new public charter schools and maintain teachers union influence over how the school district runs. Garcia wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and re-establish a Department of Environment that Emanuel consolidated into other government agencies. On budget issues, Garcia has been criticized for being maddeningly vague on his plans. When Garcia finally published an op-ed with his budget positions, it focused more on critiquing Emanuel than putting forth his own ideas.
Despite his background with the Obama administration, Emanuel has implemented a number of reforms in Chicago that conservatives should support. For example, the number of charter schools in Chicago has risen from 103 to 130 under his watch. According to Democrats for Education Reform, “In his first three years in office, Mayor Emanuel has secured more time for instruction” — Chicago until recently had one of the shortest school days in America — “more public school options for parents, and more support for students.” Emanuel also stood up to the Chicago Teachers Union’s demands in 2012, resulting in a strike that lasted for seven school days.
Emanuel also cut the city’s structural deficit in half from 2011 to 2015, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. He has enacted some slightly conservative pension reforms, such as limiting cost-of-living increases in benefits and slowly raising employee contributions.
Polls show Emanuel with a solid lead. Polling conducted by Ogden and Fry showed Emanuel ahead of Garcia with a 57 to 43 percent lead. Even with “undecided” allowed as an option, Emanuel still has a majority: 51 to 33 percent, with 16 percent undecided.
Emanuel served as President Obama’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2010. Obamacare was passed while Emanuel worked in the White House. Emanuel was criticized heavily by conservatives for saying, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Some on the Right interpreted the statement as Emanuel admitting he wanted to use national crises to rally political support for Obama’s agenda.
Emanuel is certainly no conservative hero, but with only two choices on the runoff ballot, it is clear that Emanuel is the more conservative candidate.
