Don't Believe CTU Hype: Undecideds Could Shock Mayoral Status Quo

Chicago Teachers Union bosses want Chicagoans to believe they’re leading a powerful, united voting bloc that’s guaranteed to elevate Toni Preckwinkle into a mayoral run-off.

CTU boss Jesse Sharkey even said so in the Chicago Tribune.

Don’t believe it.

There's no evidence rank-and-file CTU members have galvanized behind Preckwinkle — at least not with the vigor that thrust CTU-backed mayoral contender Chuy Garcia into a 2015 runoff against Rahm Emanuel.

Some of the most aggressive CTU political activists — those gung-ho campaign foot soldiers for Chuy who were on the front line of a rebellion against Rahm Emanuel — aren’t hitting the street for Preckwinkle.

“We used to say, ‘They have the money, but we have the people,’” longtime CTU member Joey McDermott said.

In this election, the CTU hasn’t even put up much money, and their political strategy is markedly different from the energized, boots-on-the-ground opposition that took on Rahm Emanuel under former union boss Karen Lewis.

“Nowadays, we have sophisticated polling, we do tricks with multiple PACs and make deals to defeat the enemies of the chair of the Cook County Democratic Party," said McDermott, a recent candidate for union vice president. "That’s not how we set out to change our union and the political landscape when we created CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators).”

He's talking about CTU leadership's decision to help Preckwinkle in different ways, including serving as the candidate’s de facto internet troll. The Tribune reported that CTU’s in-kind campaign contributions include “targeting her rivals with online attack ads, press releases and social media efforts.”

So far, state campaign records show the CTU hasn’t pumped much money into Preckwinkle’s campaign, either. But CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told the Tribune that the union is sending financial support to Preckwinkle through the American Federation of Teachers, which donated to $150,000 Preckwinkle.

McDermott, who made a bid to unseat Davis Gates as vice president only to drop his challenge, said he thinks the CTU’s political strategy of building clout-heavy alliances comes at the detriment of serving its members — and plenty of teachers aren’t happy about it.

“The antagonism toward rank-and-file unionism, the secrecy with PAC funding, the obsession with political power and the coziness with the regular Democratic Party all betray the values of CORE,” he said.

Union insiders say those are some of the issues that have caused a divide within the CTU that has made a noticeable drop in membership enthusiasm leading up to Election Day.

McDermott isn't afraid to tell you that the union’s great divide is evident on the campaign trail where he says you'll notice "little to no rank-and-file volunteers for Toni’s campaign.”

Still, union leaders stand steadfastly behind Preckwinkle despite the Cook County Democratic Party boss’s connection to the ongoing federal corruption investigation into Illinois politics.

Preckwinkle, according to the feds, got a $10,000 campaign contribution that resulted from Ald. Ed Burke’s shakedown of a Burger King owner. Preckwinkle also gave Burke’s son a six-figure, do-nothing county government job after talking with the powerful alderman about his son’s job hunt.

The CTU's decision to look the other way is the most glaring example of its change in political strategy, according to people who know about these things.

“In the past, the union has fought from the outside. That didn't work too well. … Leadership made a choice to build an alliance with Preckwinkle to have a seat at the table and hold her accountable,” according to a source who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. “They’re sticking with it.”

Sharkey and Davis Gates didn’t respond to my requests for a chat.

But they did discuss the state of the CTU as it relates to the mayoral election, coming contract talks and the union’s internal elections at a recent house of delegates meeting.

Substance News reporter George Milkowski was there. He wrote that Sharkey publicly acknowledged the existence of “strong disagreements within the union” and that it is “uncomfortable to hear of our endorsed candidate and her connections with Burke, but this is not a perfect world.” Sharkey also reportedly told delegates it is “imperative” they present a united front in public, according to the Substance News report.

So, when Sharkey tells the Tribune CTU leaders “expect a runoff,” and that’s when the union “expects to play a role,” in the mayoral election, know this: He’s putting out his best poker face and suggesting that the "real election campaign” won’t start until Preckwinkle’s challenger is decided on Feb. 26.

Maybe Sharkey hopes that talking a good game will keep people who usually don’t vote in city elections away from the polls, and give an advantage to the phony independent backed by CTU — Preckwinkle, that is.

Don't let that happen.

Now is the time to ignore the endorsement of big-money insiders, union bosses, newspaper writers, Twitter trolls or anybody else who suggests the fix is in for clout-heavy candidates backed by unions, billionaires and Democratic Machine insiders.

We’re less than two weeks away from a hotly contested election that's completely up for grabs.

Your vote actually matters. In Chicago, of all places.

So, if you haven’t decided on a candidate yet, study up.

Take a hard look at former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, a champion of reform who had the guts to call out Rahm Emanuel on his B.S. while she worked for him — and hasn’t stopped.

Consider Paul Vallas, the policy wonk with a detailed plan to fix Chicago’s financial woes.

Read up on Amara Enyia, the Millennial activist; Garry McCarthy, the former top-cop; and Willie Wilson, the candidate who won’t take a dime from special interests because no one can own him.

Bob Fioretti, Jerry Joyce, LaShawn Ford and even late-coming campaigner Neal Sales-Griffin have unique takes on how they want to clean up Chicago, too.

Know that the “Burke Four” — Preckwinkle, Bill Daley, Gery Chico and Susana Mendoza — are all connected to insider Democratic Machine politics that helped make Chicago America’s most corrupt, most segregated and most economically divided city in America.

On Election Day, get out there, vote your conscience and dare to surprise everybody.

You might never get a chance like this again, Chicago.

See Also:

• Mendoza Rapid-Fire Tweets Sling Mud On Clout Candidates, Herself
• Chicago Mayoral Race Is Absurd And Nightmare If You Don't Wake Up
• Did Rahm's Failure, Solis' FBI Wire Make Chicago GOP Relevant?
• Mayoral Candidate Susana Mendoza Can't Be Taken Seriously Anymore
• Facts About Pay-To-Play Preckwinkle Help To Voters To Form Opinion
• Chicago Needs To Elect Bunch Of Snitches To Kill Code Of Silence
• Rahm's Podcast Isn't Practice For TV Gig; He Stinks On TV (VIDEO)
• Are You For 'Cockroaches' Or Reformers In Chicago Mayoral Race?
• Cash Connects 'Independent' Preckwinkle To 'Good Ol' Boys Club'
• Hmm, Mayor Candidate Bill Daley Doesn't Want To Dis Rahm Anymore

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the Chicagoland series on CNN.

Photo credit: Getty Images