Rahm Emanuel Wants to Run for Mayor of Chicago
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Monday night that if Chicago Mayor Richard Daley decides he will not seek re-election, he'd like to be there to fill his shoes.
"I hope Mayor Daley seeks re-election," Emanuel, a Chicago native, said on PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show." "I will work and support him if he seeks re-election. But if Mayor Daley doesn't, one day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago."
Daley, who has served as mayor since 1989 and is on track to be the longest-serving mayor in Chicago's history, will be up for re-election in 2011.
Emanuel said he has always aspired to be mayor, even when he was in the House of Representatives. Emanuel was seen as a rising star in the Democratic caucus and a possible candidate for speaker of the house before he left to work in the White House.
"I miss the contact with constituents," he said. "I miss... running the office, that touch with people."
Emanuel said he "learned a lot" from constituents by simply greeting people at the grocery store.
However, his aspirations to serve as speaker are "over," Emanuel said.
