Del Valle Questions Emanuel's Millions
CHICAGO (CBS) – Mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle says the millions in campaign cash that his opponent Rahm Emanuel has raised is obscene.
Emanuel raised $11.7 million in three months. The issue now is where the money is coming from and what it may do in these last weeks of the campaign, CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.
Emanuel has raised more than $8 for every registered voter in Chicago. But not even half that money has come from Chicago proper. Some say it's a case of outsiders trying to buy the election. But what are they getting for their money?
According to campaign-disclosure statements filed this week, 2,400 donors contributed $6.9 million to the Emanuel campaign. Just 53 donors gave another $3.7 million.
Of the contributions, $3.9 million came from the city of Chicago; $6.7 million came from the suburbs and out of state; $2.5 million came from California and New York.
"I will be calling on those individuals to join Chicago and invest in Chicago's future," Emanuel said during a Friday appearance.
Del Valle, the city clerk who also is running in the Feb. 22 mayoral race, was not amused.
"We should not be picking a mayor of Chicago based on what Hollywood star or what Hollywood tycoon is able to provide in terms of funding," he said.
Emanuel's brother, Ari, is a high-powered Hollywood agent. Emanuel himself, a former Chicago congressman, was President Obama's first chief of staff.
Del Valle's means are more modest: a two-room campaign headquarters that could probably fit into candidate Gery Chico office. The fourth major candidate is former U.S. senator Carol Moseley Braun.
