Chicago Mayoral filing: Not Quite a Free-for-All

(Chicago Tribune) — The first Chicago mayoral election in two decades without Richard Daley on the ballot produced a crop of contenders who lined up Monday morning in a downtown building basement to replace him.  The longtime Chicago political tradition of showing up before dawn to stake a claim at the election office had a fresh feel as nearly 170 candidates turned in their petitions to run for everything from mayor to aldermen.  But voters who may have expected 20 years of pent-up political ambition to produce a rush of name-brand politicians or up-and-comers to succeed Daley may be surprised. A large field of aldermen, congressmen and county officials who considered running has been whittled down to about half a dozen major candidates, many with political baggage or hit-and-miss histories with elected office.

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