Trump's Party Hopes To Influence Mayor Race By Endorsing Vallas

Could Trump supporters decide which Democrat makes a mayoral runoff election in Chicago?

Chicago GOP Chairman Chris Cleveland said the crowded field of mayoral hopefuls who identify as Democrats in the nonpartisan election creates an opportunity for city Republicans to “decide which one wins.”

For the first time in a generation, the city GOP endorsed a mayoral candidate. Their pick, which Cleveland described as the "lesser of 13 evils," is former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas, who was supported by 16 committeemen. He edged out Willie Wilson, who got 9 committeemen votes.

While some mayor candidates and pundits have scoffed at the suggestion Republicans are a significant voting bloc in Chicago, Cleveland begs to differ.

"If you think of us as one of the two major political parties, we're not a very strong one in the city. … But if you think of us instead as an interest group, we're the 800-pound gorilla of interest groups," he said.

"Can you think of any other interest group in town that gets 20 percent of the vote? It's not the doctors or the lawyers or the cops or the teachers or the real estate interests or the bar owners or the teachers. Nobody can touch us.”

Vallas welcomed the endorsement.

“This is a non-partisan election and I’m running for mayor to represent all Chicagoans. I’ve traveled to every ward and met with every constituency. The crisis that Chicago faces affects all citizens. I thank the Republican committee for their confidence in my candidacy,” he said in a statement.

Cleveland said he’s not surprised that mayoral candidates sought the endorsement of President Trump’s party in staunchly Democratic Chicago.

“Vallas isn’t a Trump person. Trump is a nothing issue in this race. The real issues are out-of-control budgets, pensions, rising taxes and crime,” Cleveland said. “The city is a disaster in many ways and that’s 100 percent the fault of Democrats. They own this. They can yell about Donald Trump all they want, but he’s not here.”

Earlier this month, the North Side GOP Club endorsed Wilson, recommending that "Republicans and center-right independents take a hard look" his candidacy.

See Also:

• Is Chicago Crazy Enough To Elect Bill Daley, The Rahm Candidate?
• Don't Believe CTU Hype: Undecideds Could Shock Mayoral Status Quo
• 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.