53% of Chicago Primary vote reported...

[Celerity]

10. Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas insists he's a lifelong Democrat. But he's backed by conservative

donors and the FOP.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/elections/ct-paul-vallas-mayor-republican-20230213-rjl6fmiri5ftbjheqxehovkop4-story.html

Danny’s Pizza on the Southwest Side is often packed on a weekend, but nothing like the turnout for a recent Paul Vallas campaign stop. A waiter got stuck by the kitchen’s pass-through window trying to deliver a fresh pizza to the right table. A woman exclaimed, “Jesus Christ!” when someone squeezing past almost knocked the plate out of her hands. And a man surveying the room bemusedly observed, “This is a COVID risk.” When Vallas finally took the microphone at the Garfield Ridge restaurant, he cut straight to the point. “This whole campaign is about taking back our city, pure and simple,” Vallas said.

He repeatedly invoked that refrain throughout his remarks as the crowd soaked it in and cheered. He blamed Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for high crime, said he’d get criminals off the street and added, for the benefit of government workers in the crowd, that he wouldn’t cut pensions. When it came time to take questions, a woman stood up and asked about her educational concerns. “I’m hoping that you’re going to be very active in the schools and get rid of the CRT, get rid of this sex education,” the woman said, referring to the term “critical race theory” that has become a national touchstone for conservatives opposed to teaching concepts such as institutional racism in American history. Critical race theory isn’t a formalized curriculum in Illinois and attempts to curtail such teachings in the state have been unsuccessful.

In his response, Vallas did not address the woman’s comments on critical race theory or sex ed. He simply recited his stump speech on education — including a promise to funnel more money to the local schools and open campuses during evenings, weekends and holidays — and then continued his path through the crowd. The encounter highlights a thorny campaign issue for Vallas: As he makes his second bid for Chicago mayor and proclaims himself a “lifelong Democrat,” he’s pivoted to run on law-and-order and other themes that have drawn support from conservatives in the city and state. While Vallas doesn’t want to lose conservative supporters — many on the Northwest and Southwest sides who could propel him past the Feb. 28 election into a runoff — he also can’t alienate the rest of the city if he wants to win on April 4.

As Vallas tries to strike that balance, he has faced attacks from rivals that he’s truly a Republican, a charge they hope will sink his campaign. Even though municipal elections in Illinois have been technically nonpartisan since 1999, Chicago hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1931. President Joe Biden won the city with more than 80% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election and former President Donald Trump lost all 50 wards, though he came close to winning the 41st Ward on the Far Northwest Side. Christopher Mooney, a political science professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he isn’t surprised by the “Republican” attacks against Vallas. He noted Vallas is likely to face criticism as a perceived front-runner and as someone who is unapologetically pro-charter schools and the endorsed candidate of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.

snip