Bill Daley, pictured here in 2012 when he was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, is one of 14 candidates running for mayor of Chicago
(JIM WATSON)

Chicago (AFP) – Chicago voters headed to the polls Tuesday to choose a new mayor to tackle rampant gun violence, racial inequality and other pressing social problems in America’s third largest city.

An unusually wide field of 14 candidates includes the progeny of a political dynasty who served under Barack Obama, the city’s first openly-gay candidate and a little-known community organizer endorsed by two celebrity rappers.

The crowded ballot was expected to produce no clear winner Tuesday night, with a run-off vote planned for April among the most popular candidates, most likely the top two vote-getters.

Voters have left little doubt they want the eventual victor to tackle the disparity in living conditions among the sprawling city’s diverse communities. 

Some areas, such as the tourist-magnet downtown business district, are prosperous, while many predominantly African-American neighborhoods struggle with economic decay and alarming levels of gun violence. 

More than 550 people were killed in 2018 — a higher number than the combined total in America’s two most populous cities, Los Angeles and New York.  

“In Chicago we need to get a hold of our violence,” voter Abel Leon told AFP, adding that crime has been “a deterrent for people to come into Chicago and invest.”

– ‘More transparency’ –

Chicago’s departing chief executive Rahm Emanuel was dogged by accusations that he focused economic development on the prosperous downtown core and mostly ignored struggling, minority-heavy areas. 

The result has been a decline among the African-American population, as black residents leave for better options. 

“Definitely, I want a candidate that cares about my area or, at least if not my area, at least the city as a whole,” south side resident Lateef Moody, who is black, told AFP after casting his ballot.

Emanuel surprised the political establishment by declining to run for a third term, just as an incendiary police shooting trial was about to begin. 

The murder in 2014 of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, by a now-imprisoned police officer, laid bare a deep distrust of government institutions among African Americans. 

A subsequent federal investigation found a pattern of police abuse and misconduct, mostly targeted at that community. 

“We need a lot more transparency in our police department,” 81-year-old voter Karen Hueter told AFP. 

The sudden political vacuum from Emanuel’s departure brought forth a wide field of candidates who have identified economic and racial inequities and crime as top issues. 

– The Daley dynasty –

The big question has been whether an electorate looking for change will find it in a familiar-sounding candidate.

Among the frontrunners is former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, the son and brother of two previous Chicago mayors who together ran the city for 43 years — with mixed results. 

The candidate’s father, Richard J. Daley, led during the infamous street riots protesting the Vietnam War during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Richard M. Daley was credited with revitalizing Chicago’s core in the 1990s and 2000s, and criticized for cronyism in city hall.

Bill Daley is tied on 14 percent of the vote with two others — Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, according to a poll by Change Research.  

Lightfoot, vying to be the city’s first black, lesbian mayor, has fashioned herself as a reformer while Preckwinkle, the current chief of Cook County in which Chicago is located, is a former teacher focused on education reform. 

Also running is Amara Enyia, a little-known community organizer boosted by an endorsement from Chance the Rapper and campaign contributions from Kanye West. 

“It is a very unusual election for Chicago — just the number of candidates that are running and the lack of clear frontrunner status,” said Laurence Msall, head of lobby group The Civic Federation. 

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