Free Republic

After two months of closed-door meetings, a coalition of African-American leaders has settled on U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., as its "consensus candidate" for Chicago mayor. It was a late turnaround for the veteran congressman, who was not among the two finalists the Chicago Coalition for Mayor said they were considering endorsing a week ago to succeed Mayor Richard Daley.

By BRUCE RUSHTON (bruce.rushton@sj-r.com) THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER Posted Oct 28, 2010 @ 11:30 PM Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin owes the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes, according to liens against the mayor’s home filed in the Sangamon County recorder’s office. The Notice of Federal Tax Lien, filed by the Internal Revenue Service in May, shows Davlin owes income taxes for the years 2003, 2005 and 2006. The total owed is $89,702.11, the lien notice says. “We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid,” the notice says. "Therefore, there is a lien in...

In a stunning turnaround, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has decided not to run for mayor of Chicago. Dart cited family responsibilities for his decision, saying he thinks he would be a great mayor and was confident that, had he run, he would have won. But he said he decided it would be "impossible" for him to be mayor and also manage the responsibilities of being a father and husband. To be mayor means to "be less of a father," Dart said at a news conference Wednesday. "This time, it's not something that would work for my family," said Dart,...

Slovenia has elected its first black mayor, an immigrant from Africa known as the "Obama of Piran," the town where he lives. In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe. Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a runoff election in Piran on Sunday with 51.4 percent of votes. The 54-year-old candidate is a member of Slovenia's governing Social Democrats. He runs a private practice and was previously a member of the Piran...

...five well-known Hollywood Democrats -- David Geffen, Bob Iger, Peter Chernin, Haim Saban, and Ari Emanuel -- are hosting a November 4 fundraiser for Ari's brother Rahm Emanuel in his bid to become Chicago's next mayor. Rahm, a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Illinois' 5th Congressional District (2003-2009), resigned as President Obama's White House Chief Of Staff on October 1 to throw his hat into the mayoral race following the retirement of Richard M. Daley whose last name more or less owned that political office the way most families would takeover the dining table. The Hollywood fundraiser will be held...

Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun has given her mayoral bid a big but potentially controversial boost -- by signing a pair of seasoned campaign architects with winning track records and close ties to Mayor Daley and House Speaker Michael Madigan . . . This election is shaping up to be the mother of all circuses--Rahm, Burris, Mostly Fraud . . . maybe Blago can throw his hat in. As Jack Brickhouse used to say, "They're all here for this one."

Look out for the race for mayor of Chicago. It’s getting tougher sooner than expected. Some heavyweights in Chicago politics seem to be ganging up on one of the candidates aiming to replace Mayor Richard M. Daley, a guy they want to knock out of the race. They’re quiet about it, but are talking to CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, who says it all comes down to three words: “Anybody but Rahm.”

North Miami mayor returns PorscheMayor Andre Pierre says the Porsche he was driving earlier this year was lent to him -- but he never reported the loan and there are conflicting memories of who did the lending. BY NADEGE CHARLES Posted on Sunday, 10.17.10 For a few weeks over the summer, the mayor of North Miami was riding in style on the streets of a city that had been pinched hard by the recession. The dark blue, four-door 2010 Porsche Panamera that sat in Mayor Andre Pierre's city parking spot has a sticker price of $100,000. And if the mayor...

Standard Chicago Machine bureaucratic incompetence -the source of much that's wrong with the World's Biggest Cow Town- now brings us world-class Chris Rock-style humor:An embarrassed Chicago Election Board will spend the money and time to re-program and re-test 4,200 electronic voting machines to correct a spelling error that changed the last name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney to "Whitey." If the mistake had been anything other than "Whitey" in a city with a history of racial politics, the costly correction might not have been necessary, officials said. But, since the error was made on machines scheduled to be...

SAN GABRIEL -- The mayor of San Gabriel was arrested early Friday morning on charges of felony robbery and assault charges after he allegedly grabbed a woman's purse and sped away with her clinging to the side of his SUV. Albert Y.M. Huang, 35, was taken into custody around 1:15 a.m. after police received a call about a heated argument between Huang and a 33 year old woman over money, according to Sgt. Jeff Whitney of the San Gabriel police department. Detectives say Huang and the woman were arguing over money outside a restaurant in the 300 block of West...

2 little words started race for mayor: forensic auditJohn Kass October 6, 2010 Before we feast on the tribalism and intrigue of the upcoming Chicago mayoral campaign, let's not forget something. Let's not forget the guy who may have started it all. He did it by uttering two little words, and they echoed ominously through Chicago's political sub-basements. Just days after the two little words were said, Mayor Richard Daley announced he wouldn't seek re-election. Remember those two little words? "You mean, 'forensic audit'?" said Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd. "Those two little words?" Precisely. Forensic audit. **SNIP** And Emanuel? He's...

That's actually a question being asked. Check out the Chicago Sun-Times article here (via Memeorandum) Man, that would be a HUGE bummer if he couldn't run because he wasn't an actual resident of Chicago...right Barack? ................Mr. President? Was it something I said? Hello? Just me? The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

Attorney Burt Odelson, a noted elction-law expert, is predicting Rahm Emanuel will be ineligible for mayor because he is not a legal resident of Chicago. Odelson told Roe and Roeper on WLS Radio that when Emanuel leased out his Chicago home he could no longer claim he is a resident. “He rented his house out in Sept 09 and has not been back since and has no residency in Chicago,” Odelson said. Odelson says he has been involved in several residency cases in Illinois that “the law is clear.”

On the eave of the biggest rush to run for Chicago Mayor in recent memory, Jesse Jackson, Jr. has been hit with more allegations of being involved in a scheme to buy a Senate seat from disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Additionally, there is a hint that Jackson was involved with a woman flown several times to Chicago by a campaign contributor. An Indian-American businessman has told federal authorities that he was asked by Congressman Jackson to begin raising money for Rod Blagojevich so that Blago might appoint Jackson to the open Senate seat that Obama vacated when he took the...

It turns out Adrian Fenty did win the D.C. mayoral primary on Tuesday -- just not the one he had expected. D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics Public Affairs Manager Alysoun McLaughlin, who has forgotten what sleep is after the past week, announced at the crack of 3 a.m. today that Fenty had received 822 write-in votes in the Republican primary, enough to make him the GOP winner. Fenty has until 4:45 p.m. today to claim the prize, at which point I assume the hard-working DCBOEE crew will lock up for the weekend and go have a stiff drink. Fenty...

Our friend Pat Hickey has caught wind of some potentially interesting news on Chicago's soon to be roiling Mayoral election now that Richard "King" Daley has decided he no longer wants the big seat. Conservative publisher R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr. has reportedly said he might be interested in taking a run at City Hall. Pat reports that through the grapevine he heard of Tyrell's possible campaign: R. Emmett Tyrrell, the founder of The American Spectator is interested in running for Mayor of Chicago. Bob Tyrrell, like Governor Pat Quinn, is a proud Alumnus of Fenwick High School. It sure would...

REPLACING DALEY | Emanuel activates his Chicago network ### White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has commissioned his longtime pollster, Stanley Greenberg, to survey Chicagoans about a potential mayoral bid. Meanwhile, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun will accept a mayoral "draft" at a Monday news conference in Chicago. Sources told me that polling calls for Emanuel were being made over the weekend and that Emanuel has activated his Chicago network of pals to reach out to political figures in Chicago on his behalf. While Emanuel backed out of a Chicago visit last weekend, I'm told he will be in...

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel decided not to come home this weekend, but a source tells Ward Room that he is instead conducting a poll of Chicagoans as he decides whether to run for Mayor. Those polled are being asked their thoughts not only on Rahm as a potential candidate, but how well President Barack Obama is doing in the White House and about Rahm's perceived closeness to Obama.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has called off a previously scheduled weekend trip to his hometown of Chicago, which would have come just days after the city’s longtime mayor, Richard Daley, stunned the political establishment Tuesday by announcing he will not run for reelection — fueling speculation that Emanuel will run to replace him. Emanuel's spokeswoman, Meridith Webster, did not specify why the former Chicago congressman canceled his trip, only that he “needs to say in D.C. this weekend” because of “scheduling conflicts.” Emanuel was a featured guest at three major fundraisers on Sunday and Monday in downtown...

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel--likely to run for mayor in the wake of Mayor Daley's surprise decision not to seek another term--hits Chicago in a few days for a series of fund-raisers for House candidates. But it will be his first time in the city since he is in play for City Hall and reporters are certain to hunt him down to ask him if he is going to leave the White House to run. Then there is the matter of timing--does he leave the White House before the mid-term elections? Nominating petitions--with 12,500 valid signatures--are due Nov....