Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday he will not be seeking re-election for a third term in Feb. 2019, following outcries for his resignation this summer.
“As much as I love this job and will always love this city and its residents, I’ve decided not to seek re-election,” Emanuel said in a press conference. “This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime.”
Emanuel, who served as former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, left the position to run for mayor in 2011. He has served ever since.
“For the last seven and a half years I’ve given my all every day and left everything on the field. This commitment has required significant sacrifice all around,” Emanuel said. “We have more to do and from now until then, we will do everything in our power to get it done and walk out the door hopefully leaving Chicago and Chicagoans in a better place.”
Most Chicagoans probably don’t think so. Emanuel’s decision not to re-run is a smart, calculated move because he knows he would most likely be defeated.
Chicago voters, seeing the horror of shootings day after day with no plan to put an end to them, can no longer tolerate Emanuel in office. The most intense calls for Emanuel’s resignation came in early August, after one of the deadliest weekends in the city’s history that saw over 60 people shot.
Chicago ended 2017 year with 650 homicides – down 15.6 percent from 2016. But if this stat is seen as an accomplishment, Chicago has a long way to go. And it won’t be Emanuel who takes them there.
