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* William Kelly blew the caps before the 2015 mayor’s race and it helped Rahm Emanuel raise huge bucks. Fran Spielman…

He has invited fellow mayoral challengers Garry McCarthy and Paul Vallas to his downtown penthouse to talk about going easy on each other, attacking Rahm Emanuel and uniting behind whomever forces the mayor into a runoff.

Yet millionaire businessman Willie Wilson on Wednesday did Emanuel a gigantic favor by making a $100,000 contribution to his own campaign — a donation that lifts the caps on campaign contributions for all candidates in Chicago’s crowded 2019 race for mayor.

“I wanted to make sure that everybody had kind of an even playing field. Open it up and have other people be able to get more money as well. … Then, they can be more competitive,” Wilson said.

“I’m doing everything I can do to turn up the heat because he is the worst mayor this city has ever seen. There’s no compassion there.” […]

[The fundraising caps limit contributions] to $5,600 from individuals, $11,100 from corporations, labor organizations and associations and $55,400 from candidate political committees and political action committees.

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 1:55 pm

Comments

I don’t get how he thinks this actually benefits anyone but Rahm.

It’s strange behavior.

Comment by FDB Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 1:56 pm
–“I wanted to make sure that everybody had kind of an even playing field. Open it up and have other people be able to get more money as well. … Then, they can be more competitive,” Wilson said.–

That really doesn’t make any sense. Emanuel is the only one for sure that it helps.

I can’t say I’ve been able to figure out Wilson’s angle since he got into politics. Lots of contradictions there.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:00 pm
A nice little thank you card is all that’s needed at this point.
Thank you- Rahm

Comment by DuPage Bard Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:04 pm
Either he’s inexplicably inept or this is all a sinister ploy to help Rahm…

Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:07 pm
== I don’t get how he thinks this actually benefits anyone but Rahm. ==

that is going to be conventional wisdom *but* it’s not the spending of the incumbent (who is already well known) but the spending of challengers (who generally aren’t) that decides outcomes. the other factoid at play, though, is that self-funders have a really awful win percentage through our electoral history. if someone can build a strong fund-raising base *in* chicago (iow, is able to beat back the belief among chicagoan contributors that rahm can’t be beat) and raise sufficient funds to get their message across, then it can be a real race.

there are definitely people who can do that…

Comment by bored now Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:11 pm
What is he getting from Rahm? What did Kelly get from Rahm. Nobody can be this stupid.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:17 pm
From a Ben Joravsky piece that year…. ” By the way, Kelly’s been the unlikely hero of this car wreck of a race ever since he donated $100,000 to his right-of-center mayoral campaign, thus blowing the lid on campaign ﬁnancing. Now anyone can contribute any amount to any candidate.” I’m no fan of Kelly but I call a spade a spade. Rahm had $10+M in the bank before the caps were blown. If anything Chuy had a shot due to Kelly and it seems clear that was Kelly’s intention.

Comment by not ben Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:23 pm
Rahm had more money than God before Kelly busted the caps. Kelly actually helped Garcia.

Comment by anonymous Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:29 pm
That cap was gonna be busted no matter what or who is running.

Comment by allknowingmasterofracoondom Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:43 pm
Run, run the last thing Ram wants is for the caps to be busted because he already has all the money in the world and he wants his opponents to live off nickel and dime

Comment by William j Kelly Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:45 pm
I don’t know if Rahm is the worst mayor Chicago has ever seen. Levi Boone allegedly helped an imprisoned Confederate soldier escape custody and then ran for mayor on an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant platform. He banned the sale of alcohol on Sundays in immigrant neighborhoods, leading to a riot in which Boone-loyal police killed a guy. And then there was Joseph Medill, who decided that he’d rather tour Europe than continue being mayor, so he just sort of left with about four months left on his term. I’m just sayin’.

Comment by SinkingShip Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 2:57 pm
Willie Wilson would have busted the caps in the race anyway - he was always going to self-finance more than 100k. Maybe he could have delayed it a couple months but the caps were not going to last long in this race.

The bigger question is why do we even bother with the current system of having caps in some races & not in others. Just go back to no limits in any race & require 24 hour reporting of donors & in kinds & independent expenditures

Comment by Fax Machine Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 3:04 pm
Rahm is going to be re-elected, and it is not even going to go into a run-off.

Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 3:05 pm
–Levi Boone allegedly helped an imprisoned Confederate soldier escape custody and then ran for mayor on an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant platform.–

Yeah, he was down on the German and Irish Catholics. Bunch of drunks, they had a scary religion, stole jobs from real Americans and ruined communities with their alien culture…

Sound familiar?

By the way, Boone was mayor in 1855-56. Obviously, he didn’t bust out the rebel at Camp Douglas until later.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 3:06 pm
Also, Rahm had it in his power to blow the caps whenever he wanted by loaning his own committee $100k (he’s got it many times over) - so this just saves Rahm the PR hot of having to bust the caps himself.

Comment by Fax Machine Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 3:22 pm
How many amateurs does it take to knock Rahm Emanuel out of office? There won’t be enough. Let’s face it: four more years.

Comment by Shytown Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 4:27 pm
Is blowing the caps even a story anymore? Even here, I noticed it wasn’t a headline. lol

Comment by A guy Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 4:28 pm
Of these four candidates, Rahm is probably the only one that can win a single ward in the city of Chicago.

Maybe - MAYBE - Vallas wins the 19th, but I think it will be competitive.

Wilson and McCarthy are both Republicans, Vallas is about as despised by organized labor as you can get.

Even if they could force Rahm into a run-off, there is no way either of these three could unite a majority of voters behind them.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 5:30 pm
Of course Kelly helped Garcia. But Willie would have busted the caps in that race too if Kelly hadn’t. So someone thinks that a candidate who can self-fund shouldn’t? So only Rahm would have enough money to get his message out and nobody else would? Great thinking there.

Comment by Michael Westen Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 7:46 pm
What prevents someone from donating $10k to their campaign to bust the caps and them later refunding themselves?

Comment by thechampaignlife Wednesday, Apr 4, 18 @ 8:05 pm
==What prevents someone from donating $10k to their campaign to bust the caps and them later refunding themselves? ==
Nothing. Kelly exposed the loophole which is one of many. Are Fran Spielman and other media suggesting that no candidate other than Rahm should raise money or that only Rahm should raise money? I agree Rahm could have easily busted the caps himself in both races. Didn’t his PAC bust the caps again after Rahm was forced into a runoff in 2015? Ah huh.

Comment by anonymous Thursday, Apr 5, 18 @ 10:21 am