Chicago’s Mayor Daley Won’t Run For 7th Term; Emmanuel Champs at Bit

Written by Pat's Papers | Wednesday, 8 September 2010 5:36 AM

A political dynasty in Chicago is ending. Mayor Richard M. Daley announced yesterday that he won’t run for re-election. Daley has been in office for 21 years. His father, Richard J. Daley ran the Windy City for more than 20 years as well. The Chicago Tribune says the announcement came as a shock, with the mayor offering little by way of an explanation for his withdrawal from office. The paper hypothesized several reasons for the sudden departure: his wife is battling cancer; Chicago is running a $600 million deficit; his approval ratings are an all-time low. Said Daley at yesterday’s press conference: “I knew it was my time. I was not afraid of any election � I don’t work on an election, I work on what to accomplish as an incumbent and I’ve done that for years.”

The Sun-Times said Mayor Daley’s announcement “hit the city like a political earthquake.” The paper says Daley had been “talking like a candidate in recent months and making all the governmental moves he needed to make to shore up his standing with an angry electorate.”

People are already speculating who will step in to Daley’s shoes and there’s lots of speculation that Rahm Emmanuel is interesting in running for the position. In the past, Emmanuel has been vocal about his desire to run the city of Chicago, which, the Tribune says, could mean a reshuffling of White House personnel. As of now, Emmanuel has refrained from announcing anything, releasing only a statement that praised Mayor Daley’s time in office.