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No one disagreed. Before the week was out, congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr. and Luis Gutierrez had announced the end of their exploratory campaigns for mayor. While both cited the Democratic takeover in Congress as the reason they couldn’t leave their current jobs, observers widely assumed they had noted Stroger’s 69 percent victory in Chicago and decided they couldn’t come close to beating Daley come February.
Consider: In 2003, Daley won every single ward and 78 percent of the total against three weak black challengers. In the eight wards where he did worst, he polled between 58 and 61 percent–nice numbers in most elections, but arguably not impressive for a sitting mayor given the lack of competition.
So here’s the point: Depending on the turnout, Daley may lose a handful of wards on the south side to the combo of Dorothy Brown and Dock Walls, stronger competition than he faced in 2003. If so, whoever wins the aldermanic races in these areas may feel emboldened–or at least pressured by discontented constituents–to speak out against him over the next four years.
