The first round of Chicago’s mayoral election will take place on February 26, like the aldermanic election that I wrote about earlier. I’m preparing a round-up post on the candidates but I barely have the heart to do it. Even assuming you can trust the candidates to attmpt to do what they’re promising, more than anything else they give me the impression that they’re running to preside over Chicago’s “Going Out of Business” sale rather than to put the city on the path to a resurgence. It won’t be done through wishful thinking or driving all of the actual taxpayers not to mention the businesses they work for out of the city.
Is it normal there for local elections to take place on odd dates?
Late February may not be the nicest weatherwise, but it looks like the date is set by state law in the event there is a possibility of a runoff. Our city elections (only two running for mayor) are April 2nd, when the schools will be closed for spring vacation. That’s probably when Chicago will have the runoff election. Anything to confound millennials.
Yes, the runoff is April 2. It’s all determined based on state law.
What I find disheartening is that, as I have said before, solving Chicago’s problems will require a major re-engineering of city government and I don’t think that any of the candidates are equipped politically, by inclination, by experience, or by temperament to do that. Consequently, they’ll tinker around at the edges, rework the last set of half-hearted development programs (TIFs), borrow a little, increase revenue a little, and hope for the best.
But the can is at the end of the road. There is nothing productive they can do which won’t make enemies.
Thanks. I know some localities will purposely set elections for days when turnout is likely to be low in order to give their allies (usually public employee unions), greater influence in the outcome. Was just curious if that’s what was going on here.