Campaign Trail
Moseley Braun Losing Steam in Chicago Mayoral Bid
By Jeff Fleischer
WeNews correspondent
Friday, February 18, 2011
The club of women who act as mayors of large cities is at its highest point, but the Feb. 22 mayoral election in Chicago doesn't look likely to boost it further. Carol Moseley Braun has slid far behind Rahm Emanuel.
CHICAGO (WOMENSENEWS)--With Richard M. Daley stepping down after 22 years in office, Tuesday's election promised to be the first competitive mayoral contest in years, with Chicago voters having a viable female candidate among their choices.
Rahm Emanuel, who left his post as President Barack Obama's chief of staff to run for mayor, has led in both polls and fundraising throughout the race.
Until recently, however, Carol Moseley Braun--the only woman and only African American among the four remaining major candidates--looked poised to force a potential runoff.
If Emanuel gets less than 50 percent on Feb. 22, he will face only the second-place finisher on April 5.
In 1992 Moseley Braun became the first African American woman to win a Senate seat when she became Illinois' junior senator. She later served as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa before starting a Chicago-based organic food company.
She was in prime position to force a runoff as 2011 began. Just before the New Year, two prominent African American candidates--U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and State Sen. James Meeks–dropped out and endorsed Moseley Braun as a consensus black candidate.
A Chicago Tribune poll conducted Jan. 15-19 found her drawing about 21 percent of the vote compared to Emanuel's 44 percent and 16 percent for Gerry Chico, Daley's former chief of staff.
Backing Drops Dramatically
Over the past few weeks, however, Moseley Braun has seen her backing drop dramatically after problems on the campaign trail and with fundraising.
A poll of more than 2,500 voters released Feb. 13 found her support falling below 10 percent, with Chico around 20 and Emanuel around 60 percent.
That likely reflects a high-profile incident at a Jan. 30 debate, where Moseley Braun made a derogatory comment about a minor candidate (saying she was "strung out on crack"). Moseley Braun apologized the next day, but the comment dominated the news cycle.
Emanuel's fundraising dominance has also been apparent in a steady stream of local TV ads. The most recent funding data, released Jan. 21, showed Emanuel having raised $11.7 million, about $8 million more than the rest of the field combined.
Emanuel has also been able to poll well among all demographics.
"A lot of people assumed that Carol Moseley Braun would gain large support among women or in the African American community, and clearly that isn't happening," said Gregg Durham of We Ask America, which has conducted polling throughout the race and does not work for any candidate.
In a city where Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, famously received 99 percent of the African American vote in 1983, the new poll showed Emanuel drawing 70 percent of the black vote, with Moseley Braun a distant second at 16 percent.
Among women, Emanuel had about two-thirds of the vote, with Moseley Braun in third place.
Emanuel leads among every age and ethnicity and his support appears to have increased in the election's final weeks.
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Submitted by Janet (1 year ago)
Hooray for the courage and drive of Mosely Braun! I wish for her that women and blacks all of whom have benefitted from her previous experience in governance will return to her support, she deserves it, and it would be a good day for Chicago with her as mayor.
Submitted by user51722 (1 year ago)
Why would you feature a story on Carol Moseley Braun by a white male (at least that’s the photo on his blog) who’s worked for New Republic and Rugby magazine?
Yes, Carol is not a perfect candidate but neither are her male opponents. In fact, much of what we lost in the health care debate (repro rights, public option) was devised by Emanuel. Carol deserves a better headline (which is all some people read) and at least a list of her accomplishments. She has certainly done more, and will do more, for girls and women than all the new tea party Members of Congress and many of the new Republican governors who are shredding women’s lives as they cut budgets. The message to your readers was not that women should dream and continue to run and support women candidates, but to face the fact that we just don’t measure up.
You might as well have endorsed Rahm Emanuel. How sad. Pat Reuss
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Submitted by sf3707 (1 year ago)
Despite her achievements, I do not believe that Ms. Moseley Braun deserves quite so many accolades. There are plenty of women and African Americans who have not been under constant investigation of financial improprieties, nor have they hobnobbed with murderous dictators like Sani Abacha. Ms. Moseley Braun long ago lost my vote.