Illinois' Republican Senator Warns Chicago Will Become Detroit If Emanuel Is Not Re-Elected

It's very difficult sometimes to differentiate Republicans from Democrats in Illinois. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican, is warning Chicago voters that Chicago could follow Detroit into bankruptcy unless the city's voters re-elect the Democratic incumbent mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who did everything he could to defeat Kirk and elect his pal, Alexi Giannoulias, in his very narrow 2010 election win. Sen. Kirk told the Sun-Times that Emanuel's opponent, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, lacked the "gravitas with the bond market" to protect the city from going into bankruptcy.

"Rahm’s re-election is essential to maintaining the value of Chicago’s debt market. We need a strong capable leader… I would worry about the value of the Chicago debt if Rahm was not re-elected…. It’s a concern if we have some of the less responsible people running against him," Kirk said. 

"None of them could command the respect of the bond market. A collapse of Chicago debt, which already happened with Detroit, I think would soon follow if somebody who was really inexperienced and irresponsible replaced Rahm."

A sensitive person might interpret Kirk's comments as a bit racist given that Emanuel is Jewish and Garcia is Hispanic. Emanuel's opponent dismissed Kirk's comments as "partisan politics." In theory, Chicago mayoral candidates run for office in a non-partisan election, although their campaigns are clearly organized along party lines. Chicago is a one-party town where Republicans rarely win election to office. Kirk's comments come as a newly-released poll shows Emanuel in a dead heat with Garcia. The Ogden & Fry poll shows Emanuel leading Garcia by a small margin of 42.9% to 38.5%. The pollster warned that the poll likely under counts Garcia's support, particularly among Hispanic voters.