Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff who had been the overwhelming favorite in the Chicago mayoral election, has been taken off (?) the ballot, court officials said – creating an opening for the Latino candidates in the race.- Actually there is confusion and conflicting stories if he is ON or OFF! First he was said to be taken off the ballot –  then the Illinois Supreme Court decided that Rahm Emanuel can run for mayor.

With only a month to go before Chicago’s mayoral election, the campaign has taken a series of headline-grabbing turns while candidates continue to court the city’s LGBT voters.

The field has narrowed from the 20 candidates who had initially filed petitions to succeed outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley to the four who will appear on the Feb. 22 ballot.

Rahm Emanuel, Carol Moseley Braun, Gery Chico and Miguel Del Valle all have relatively strong pro-LGBT records, including support across the board of marriage equality-an issue also championed by Daley. While Emanuel  is  the frontrunner in both polls and fundraising, many of the city’s leading activists continue to urge LGBT Chicagoans to closely follow the campaign.

A coalition of LGBT leaders, including representatives from many of the city’s leading service and advocacy groups, organized a series of three community forums held in November and December that allowed Chicagoans from across the city to provide input on a questionnaire distributed to each of the leading candidates.

The primary to replace to longtime mayor Richard Daley is scheduled for Feb. 22..

EMANUEL is scheduled to make an appearance at Center on Halsted, Friday morning, 10am.   The Center on Halsted is at 3656 N Halsted. He will meet with LGBT leaders there and discuss topics of concern.





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