Gery Chico, Toni Preckwinkle To Run For Chicago Mayor: Reports

CHICAGO — Election politics in Chicago abhors a vacuum, and nearly two weeks after Mayor Rahm Emanuel revealed he wasn't seeking a third term, the field over who will replace him next year continues to grow. Chicago lawyer and Democratic politician Gery Chico and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle are both expected to announce their candidacies Thursday, according to reports.

Chico — the former chief of staff under Mayor Richard M. Daley from 1992 to 1995 who ran for mayor in 2011 — told Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this week that he officially will throw his hat in the ring. The former Chicago Public Schools board president from 1995 to 2001 said he has the support of at least two city aldermen: Ray Lopez (15th Ward) and Ed Burke (14th Ward).

"Chicago’s best days are in front of it, and I’m going to fight to make sure that happens," he told Sneed. (Subscribe to get Patch real-time email alerts and daily newsletters for Chicago. And Android and iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Chico's formal announcement is expected to come the same day as Preckwinkle's, according to NBC 5 Chicago. The Cook County politician has been circulating nominating petitions, and Preckwinkle's political director told the TV station that "[s]he is giving serious consideration to running for mayor."

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Last week, Bill Daley, the former White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, said he would be running for mayor, hoping to follow in the footsteps of his brother and father.

Before Emanuel's decision earlier this month, a large, contentious field of candidates had been slowly building to oppose the current mayor in Chicago's upcoming Feb. 26 election. With the Nov. 26 filing deadline still around the corner, some of the other individuals who will be on the ballot include:

• Dorothy Brown, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk
• Ja'Mal Green, community activist
• John Kozlar, 11th Ward alderman candidate in 2015
• Troy LaRaviere, Chicago Principals & Administrators Association president
• Lori Lightfoot, former Chicago Police Board president
• Garry McCarthy, former Chicago police superintendent
• Neal Sales-Griffin, 30-year-old tech entrepreneur
• Paul Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO
• Willie Wilson, businessman and 2015 mayoral candidate

Emanuel said he felt it was time to "pass the torch" in explaining his decision not to campaign for another term.

"This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime," Emanuel said.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC 5 Chicago

Chicago lawyer Gery Chico (left) and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (Chico photo by Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images for Child Mind Institute; Preckwinkle photo by Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images for GEANCO Foundation)