It was a dubious proposition from the start, the idea that African-Americans could unite behind a single black candidate to better their odds in the mayor’s race.
Whites, meantime, weren’t coalescing at all—at least not openly. There were no public meetings about the need for whites to choose a single white candidate. And the early list of notable white mayoral wannabes was long: Sheriff Tom Dart, congressman Mike Quigley, Assessor Jim Houlihan, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, former city inspector general David Hoffman, and aldermen Brendan Reilly, Bob Fioretti, Scott Waguespack, Tom Tunney, and Ed Burke all considered running.
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In all, seven white candidates filed for mayor. After Halpin’s withdrawal and four removals, Emanuel and a city worker named Frederick White remain. White is likely to be bounced from the ballot for insufficient signatures. And then there will be one (assuming he passes his residency test). With much less ado, whites will have arrived at a “consensus” candidate.
Time will tell. When the presumed needs of a racial group collide with ego, though, it’s usually not ego that gets flattened.
“Why, you, Congressman/former Senator/Reverend, will be the best mayor of them all.”
