Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces he will not seek re-election
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces he will not seek re-election
By Andrew O'Reilly | Fox News
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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he is not seeking re-election. (AP)
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday that he is not seeking re-election for a third term amid withering criticism over his administration’s policies and a soaring violent crime rate in the Windy City.
“As much as I love this job and will always love this city and its residents, I’ve decided not to seek re-election,” Emanuel said at a press conference on Tuesday. “This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime.”
Emanuel was a Democratic congressman and chief of staff to President Barack Obama before becoming mayor in 2011. He followed Richard M. Daley, who was mayor for more than 20 years.
While he came into office with high hopes, Chicago’s high murder rate and an increase in violent soured many residents to his administration. Emanuel tried to fend off the attacks while calming an alarmed electorate, but the violence only fueled the calls for political change in the February election.
“What happened over the weekend is absolutely horrific and unacceptable. It’s another tragic weekend in Chicago, and unfortunately, we’ve had too many of them,” former Chicago Public Schools CEO and mayoral candidate Paul Vallas said after a bloody weekend that left a dozen people dead and another 62 wounded, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“There is no substitution for providing the police resources we need to close this gap.”
Besides taking heat from his rivals in the mayoral race, Emanuel was also besieged on the national level with Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, blaming Emanuel and decades of "one party Democratic rule" for the violence in a series of tweets.
The former New York mayor also tweeted his support for mayoral candidate and former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, a Democrat, referring to him as "Jerry" and calling him a "policing genius."
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