Now it's a race: Garcia gets $250,000 from union for mayoral run

Source: Chicago Business

In a sign that Chicago may have a mayoral race worth watching after all, Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia has received a major donation from a labor union for his race against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with another gift well into six figures reportedly on the way.

The $250,000 donation comes from SEIU Healthcare, a unit of the Service Employees International Union that represents nursing home and other medical workers. The donation has not yet showed up on the State Board of Elections web site, but has been confirmed by SEIU Healthcare.

Mr. Garcia in recent days has received more than $150,000 in large chunks from other labor groups, as well as $16,000 from the campaign fund of Chicago Teaches Union President Karen Lewis. And, a usually reliable source tells me that a donation of hundreds of thousands of dollars is coming from the American Federation of Teachers, which had pledged to donate $1 million to Lewis.

Combined, that will leave Garcia well short of the $10 million or more that is in Emanuel's warchest and in the bank account of an independent expenditure group formed by his political allies. But anything near $1 million would give him enough to set up an office, hire campaign staff, do some polling and purchase at least some TV time—in other words, be competitive.

FULL story and updates at link.

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Jesus "Chuy" Garcia

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