Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday that he is not running re-election, a departure from prior statements indicating that he would pursue a third term in office.
“I’ve decided not to seek re-election,” Emanuel said during a press conference. “This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime.”
Emanuel, who previously stated he would run again and has already raised more than $10 million for re-election, has faced backlash for how he managed the fatal police shooting of high school student Laquan McDonald in 2014. The shooting prompted a federal civil rights investigation of the police department and protests urging for Emanuel to step down.
Following his press conference Tuesday, former President Barack Obama praised Emanuel, who was his chief of staff from 2009 to 2010, calling him a “tireless and brilliant public servant.”
“As a mayor, a congressman, and my first White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel has been a tireless and brilliant public servant,” Obama said in a statement. “His work to improve our schools is paying dividends by helping our teachers and students achieve faster academic improvement than students in 96 percent of America’s school districts.The announcement to establish universal pre-K in Chicago, on top of universal kindergarten, will give all our kids the best possible start. And his implementation of debt-free community college will help prepare all our young people for the new economy.”
“With record job growth and record employment over his terms in office, Chicago is better and stronger for his leadership, and I was a better President for his wise counsel at a particularly perilous time for our country,” Obama added. “I’ve been blessed to call Rahm my friend. Whatever he chooses to do next, I know he’ll continue to make a positive difference, just as he has throughout his career in public service.”
There is no shortage of candidates to replace Emanuel. A total of 12 candidates — including figures such as former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Valas, former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy — have already announced they will run for Chicago mayor in February 2019.
