How Jason Van Dyke guilty verdict may affect races for Chicago mayor, aldermen

If Rahm Emanuel hadn’t pulled the plug on his own re-election bid, the guilty verdict against Officer Jason Van Dyke might have had a huge impact on the crowded race for mayor of Chicago.

The demonstrators who gathered outside City Hall on Friday might have turned their anger on Emanuel instead of on African-American aldermen, who were harshly criticized for signing off on a $5 million settlement to the family of Laquan McDonald — even without a lawsuit being filed — without asking tough enough questions or seeing the incendiary shooting video.

But now that Emanuel has removed himself from the equation, the question is what, if any, impact will the verdict have on city elections?

Will it hurt mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy, the former Chicago police superintendent whom Emanuel fired, just days after the court-ordered release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, for having become a “distraction?”

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/jason-van-dyke-verdict-impact-chicago-mayor-alderman-2019-election/