Teachers Union On Runoff In Mayor's Race: 'A Beautiful Day For Democracy'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Among the first to back Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in his bid for mayor, the Chicago Teachers Union on Wednesday was taking a brief moment to enjoy Garcia's success in forcing a runoff with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
When CTU President Karen Lewis pulled herself out of consideration for mayor, due to a bout with cancer, she and the union threw their support behind Garcia.
Emanuel vastly outspent Garcia and the three other challengers ahead of Tuesday's election, and he had at least eight times as many TV commercials as Garcia, but still could not win outright, getting only 45 percent of the vote.
That gave renewed energy to Garcia supporters, like CTU financial secretary Kristine Mayle.
"Money can only buy you so much. If you don't have the support of the people, you can't win. It's a beautiful day for democracy when that's the truth," she said.
Mayle said she believes teachers will have a big say in defeating Emanuel.
"We're on the front lines every day. We see what these policies do to our children, and we want to stand up for them and fight back," she said.
She said Emanuel has neglected the neighborhoods, in favor of downtown.
"Yesterday was a great day for the city of Chicago. The people have spoken, and the people in the neighborhoods are tired of being neglected," she said. "So, we want a new leader. We want a leader from the neighborhoods."
Mayle said she believes most of the people who voted for challengers Willie Wilson, Bob Fioretti, and William "Dock" Walls were voting against Emanuel, and would be more likely to support Garcia in the runoff in April.
"How many anti-Rahm votes were there yesterday? We still have those numbers, and I don't think anybody that voted for one of the other candidates is going to pick Rahm as an answer, because he hasn't helped our city," Mayle said.
The runoff to decide the contest between Emanuel and Garcia will be on April 7.