2011 Chicago mayoral election

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The city of Chicago, Illinois held a nonpartisan mayoral election on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Incumbent Mayor Richard Michael Daley, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 1989, did not seek a seventh term as mayor.[3] This was the first non-special election since 1947 in which an incumbent mayor of Chicago did not seek reelection.[4]

Quick facts Turnout, Candidate ...
2011 Chicago mayoral election

 2007
February 22, 2011
2015 
Turnout41.99%[1][2] Increase 9.55 pp
 
Candidate Rahm Emanuel Gery Chico
Popular vote 326,331 141,228
Percentage 55.27% 23.92%

 
Candidate Miguel del Valle Carol Moseley Braun
Popular vote 54,689 53,062
Percentage 9.26% 8.99%

Ward results
Emanuel:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Chico:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Mayor before election

Richard M. Daley

Elected Mayor

Rahm Emanuel

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Candidates needed to collect 12,500 petition signatures by November 22, 2010, to qualify for a place on the ballot.[5] April 5, 2011 was scheduled to be a runoff election date if no candidate received an absolute majority.[6][7]

Rahm Emanuel won the race for mayor with more than 55% of the vote.[8] He was inaugurated on May 16, 2011.[9]

The election saw what was, at the time, the most candidates running on the ballot of any Chicago mayoral election since 1919. This would be surpassed by the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.

Candidates

Nominating petitions were filed for 20 candidates in November 2010.[10] In the initial review of the petitions by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners on December 6, 2010, three candidates, Ryan Graves, M. Tricia Lee, and Jay Stone, were removed from the ballot for submitting insufficient numbers of signatures or duplicate signatures, although they had the right to seek reconsideration of the decision.[11] Rob Halpin, businessman and tenant of Rahm Emanuel, withdrew from the election on the same day.[11] Tom Hanson was removed by the Board of Election Commissioners on December 13, but filed a complaint in Circuit County Court Chancery division seeking reversal of the Board's decision, for being contrary to Illinois Election Code, Section 10–8, but was not reinstated.[12][13] Former U.S. Senator from Illinois Roland Burris withdrew from the race on December 17, 2010.[14] State Senator James Meeks ended his bid on December 23, 2010, the deadline for candidates to not appear on the ballot.[15]

Danny K. Davis, U.S. Representative from Illinois's 7th district, withdrew on December 31, 2010, to support Carol Moseley Braun, in an attempt to unite voters behind a single major African American candidate.[16]

Assemblies of God congregation leader Wilfredo De Jesús dropped out of the race on January 7, 2011, and endorsed Gery Chico.[17]

Real estate broker John Hu was removed from the ballot by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners on December 29, 2010.[18] On January 11, 2011, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners removed three additional candidates whose candidacies were challenged and finalized the election ballot of six candidates.[10]

On ballot

Six candidates appeared on the February 22 ballot:

More information Candidate, Experience ...
Candidate Experience Announced Ref

Gery Chico
President of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners (2007–2010)
President of the Chicago Board of Education (1995–2001)
former Chief of Staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley
former Chairman of the City Colleges of Chicago
September 28, 2010

[19]

Miguel del Valle
City Clerk of Chicago since 2006
Illinois state senator from the 2nd district (1987–2006)
September 2010
[20]

Rahm Emanuel
White House Chief of Staff (2009–2010)
U.S. Congressman from Illinois' 5th district (2003–2009)
Senior Advisor to the President of the United States (1993–1998)
White House Director of Political Affairs (1993)
October 3, 2010

[21]

Carol Moseley Braun
United States Ambassador to New Zealand (1999–2001) and to Samoa (2000–2001)
United States Senator from Illinois (1993–1999)
Cook County Recorder of Deeds (1988–1992)
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1979–1988)
November 20, 2010

[22]

Patricia Van Pelt Watkins
Non-profit administrator and activist
William "Dock" Walls former aide to Mayor Harold Washington
community activist, businessman, and perennial candidate
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Write-in candidates

  • D’Anne E. Burley[2]
  • Alfredo Castillo[2]
  • Alex George (AG)[2]
  • Anthony Brent Gray (Tony)[2]
  • Tommy Hanson[2]
  • John C. Hawkins[2]
  • John Hu[2]
  • Peter Dale Kauss, Sr[2]
  • “Fredrick” “Frederick” “Fred” “F.” K. White[2]

Withdrew

The following individuals withdrew their candidacies

Nominations invalid

The following candidates had their nominations deemed invalid by the Chicago Board of Elections, and thus were denied inclusion on the ballot:

Declined

Eligibility of Emanuel

On January 24, 2011, Rahm Emanuel was removed from the ballot by the Illinois First District Appellate Court in a 2–1 decision. Emanuel's eligibility had been previously confirmed by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and a judge of Cook County. Emanuel appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Illinois.[35] Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times criticized the ruling in editorials as "startling arrogance and audaciously twisted reasoning" and "pinched interpretation of the law [that] ignores the lawmakers' obvious intent".[36][37] On January 25, 2011, the Supreme Court of Illinois issued a stay of the appellate court's ruling that Rahm Emanuel should be removed from the ballot.[38] On January 27, 2011, the Supreme Court of Illinois, in a unanimous (7–0) decision, overturned the ruling of the Appellate Court and allowed Emanuel to stay on the ballot.

Campaign

On September 23, 2010, Miguel del Valle became the first candidate to launch a television commercial in the mayoral race.[39]

Rahm Emanuel announced his resignation as White House Chief of Staff on October 1, 2010, and went on to announce his mayoral candidacy on October 3.[40] According to the Chicago Sun-Times, two Chicago election lawyers stated that Illinois municipal code requires mayoral candidates to reside in the town for a year before the election, making Emanuel ineligible to hold the office.[41] On December 23, 2010, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners unanimously rejected the challenge to Emanuel and ruled that he was a legal resident of Chicago.[42]

The editorial pages of Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Rahm Emanuel on February 4, 2011.[43][44]

While President Barack Obama had not formally endorsed Emanuel, there was a public perception that the president favored his former Chief of Staff for mayor.[45]

Endorsements

Gery Chico

Officeholders

Individuals

Organizations

Miguel del Valle

Officeholders

Individuals

Newspapers

Organizations

Rahm Emanuel

Officeholders

Individuals

Newspapers

Organizations

Carol Moseley Braun

Officeholders

Individuals

Newspapers

Organizations

Polling

First round

% Support01020304050609/8/201012/8/20101/19/20112/13/2011Roland Burris (withdrew)Gery ChicoDanny K. Davis (withdrew)Miguel del ValleRahm EmanuelJames Meeks (withdrew)Carol Moseley BraunPatricia Van Pelt-WatkinsWilliam "Dock" WallsOpinion polling for the first round of the 2...
More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Ed Burke Roland Burris Gery Chico Bill Daley Tom Dart Danny K. Davis Miguel Del Valle Rahm Emanuel Bob Fioretti Luis Gutiérrez Jim Houlihan Jesse Jackson, Jr. James Meeks Carol Moseley Braun Terry Peterson Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins William Walls Other Undecided
McKeon & Associates / Chicago Sun-Times (report) September 8, 2010 600 ± 4.3% 6% 12% 7% 3% 9% 3% 8% 10% 4% 3% 35%
We Ask America (report) September 2010 2,365 ? 6.31% 8.16% 13.66% 29.68% 2.95% 12.81% 2.30% 13.36% 8.21% 2.55%
Chicago Teamsters Joint Council 25 / Anzalone Liszt (report) November 8–14, 2010 ? ± 3.7% 10% 14% 4% 36% 7% 13%
We Ask America (report) November 23, 2010 2,255 ± 2.06% 2.40% 8.86% 7.29% 4.78% 39.00% 5.16% 12.33% 1.47% 18.72%
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (report) December 1–8, 2010 1,020 ± 3% 1% 9% 10% 8% 43% 7% 11% 2% 7%
Chicago Tribune (report) December 10–13, 2010 721 ± 3.6% 9% 9% 3% 32% 7% 6% 30%
We Ask America (report) December 20, 2010 2,239 ± 2.07% 11.78% 6.63% 6.09% 43.83% 3.63% 7.78% 3.91% 16.35%
Chicago Teamsters Joint Council 25 / Anzalone Liszt (report) January 4–6, 2011 500 ±4.4% 10% 7% 42% 26%
Chicago Tribune/WGN (report) January 15–19, 2011 708 ±3.7% 16% 7% 44% 21% 1% 2% 9%
We Ask America (report) January 24, 2011 2,308 ±2.05% 14% 4% 52% 11% 16%
Richard Day Research (report) February 3–7, 2011 600 ±4% 14% 8% 54% 6% 3% 15%
NBC Chicago / Victory Research (report Archived January 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine) February 10–12, 2011 ? ±3.46% 16.1% 9.6% 44.8% 22.5% 0.9% 1.1% 5.0%
We Ask America (report) February 13, 2011 2,252 ± 2.06% 23.72% 10.39% 58.21% 6.04% 0.97% 0.67%
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Hypothetical runoff

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Danny K. Davis Rahm Emanuel Carol Moseley Braun
Chicago Teamsters Joint Council 25 / Anzalone Liszt (report) November 8–14, 2010 ? ± 4.3% 33% 54%
55% 32%
Chicago Teamsters Joint Council 25 / Anzalone Liszt (report) January 4–6, 2011 500 ±4.4% 53% 31%
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Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
Mayor of Chicago 2011[1][2] (General Election)
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Rahm Emanuel 326,331 55.27
Nonpartisan Gery J. Chico 141,228 23.92
Nonpartisan Miguel del Valle 54,689 9.26
Nonpartisan Carol Moseley Braun 53,062 8.99
Nonpartisan Patricia Van Pelt Watkins 9,704 1.64
Nonpartisan William Walls, III 5,343 0.90
Write-in Tommy Hanson 9 0.00
Write-in John C. Hawkins 8 0.00
Write-in “Fredrick” “Frederick” “Fred” “F.” K. White 6 0.00
Write-in Alfredo Castillo 4 0.00
Write-in John Hu 4 0.00
Write-in Alex George (AG) 3 0.00
Turnout 590,391 41.99
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Results by ward

More information Ward, Chico ...
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See also

References

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