Chicago's Mayoral Candidates Get Dueling Endorsements
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the race for mayor of Chicago, it's dueling endorsements. Toni Preckwinkle gets a boost in her quest for black voters, while Lori Lightfoot wins support from a Hispanic community group.
CBS 2 political reporter Derrick Blakley is following the candidates.
She's running as a progressive, but Toni Preckwinkle showed off support today from two Democratic organization stalwarts. The first one is Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
"We need someone to run the city of Chicago who has experience," said White.
The other endorsement came from West Side Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) who praised Preckwinkle's accomplishments, specifically in the area of affordable housing.
"She don't talk about it, she be about it. She be about making things happen," Burnett said.
To pull out a victory, Preckwinkle's got to have dominating support among black voters, especially after Lori Lightfoot won the backing of a Hispanic group, formed by Illinois U.S. Congressman Jesus "Chuy" Garcia and his predecessor, Luis Gutierrez.
"More than anything else, Lori had a history of coalition building. I think if we can help in spreading her message in the Latino community, we're going to be happy to do so," said Latino Leadership Council Chairman Juan Morado Jr.
Preckwinkle may be fighting an uphill climb with Latinos. The man who ran Garcia's 2015 mayoral campaign, Manny Perez, is now Lightfoot's campaign manager. When Garcia was elected to the Cook County Board, Preckwinkle chose him as her floor leader.
But in his 2015 challenge against Rahm Emanuel, Preckwinkle did not endorse Garcia.
So far this year, Garcia has returned the favor. When asked if Garcia was planning to back her, Preckwinkle said, "as I understand it, he hasn't made a decision yet."
The next big endorsement on the horizon is expected to come from Willie Wilson, who won the mayoral vote in some 14 black wards.
He said he will announce whether he is backing Preckwinkle or Lightfoot on Friday.