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The Richard M. Daley Campaign Committee doesn’t have a Web site, at least not one that I could find, so I called the mayor’s press office at City Hall and asked for a number for Terry Peterson, who’s supposed to be running the reelection campaign–not that it officially exists. “We don’t know how to reach him,” the receptionist told me. Well, what about the campaign office itself? “No,” she said quickly. No one there knows? I asked. “No, we don’t,” she said. “People have called prior to you, and we don’t have the number.”
I called the 17th Ward Democratic Organization, which Peterson used to run (and, according to many insiders, still does). No answer. I called the 17th Ward aldermanic office, which Peterson used to inhabit before he left the City Council to run the Chicago Housing Authority. I was told no one there knew how to reach him, either. “He was the alderman once,” the receptionist informed me. “Then he moved on to the CHA.” She suggested I call over there.
“Sure!” proclaimed a cheery woman on the other end of the line. She gave me the number, and not a minute later I was talking to Peterson. He said he had spent the last few weeks reaching out to ministers, block club leaders, and union officials, asking them if they would support the mayor if he should decide to run. But Peterson emphasized that Daley still hadn’t decided; in fact, he hadn’t even decided when to announce whatever he ended up deciding. “I’m hoping to sit down today or tomorrow with the mayor and finalize that,” he said.
