For the last several months, Rafael Chagin has dreamed of running for mayor, if only to tell anyone who would listen how the city made it almost impossible for him to operate his cardboard box factory. But he’ll probably never make that run, thanks to a law requiring 25,000 voter signatures to get on the ballot. “And how can an ordinary citizen possibly get 25,000 signatures?” says Chagin. “The law is antidemocratic.”
“If you remember, Harold ran in the Democratic primary against [then mayor] Jane Byrne and [then Cook County state’s attorney] Daley,” says Avila. “He won about 38 percent of the vote and then moved on to the general against Bernie Epton, the Republican. The point is that had we had a nonpartisan election, Washington, Daley, Byrne, and Epton would have all run in the same contest. Then the two highest vote getters–Washington and Byrne–would have faced each other. A lot of people don’t think Washington could have beat Byrne in a two-way race.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
In fact, Washington did just that in the Democratic primary of 1987. He went on to beat Tenth Ward alderman Edward Vrdolyak, who ran as an independent in that year’s general election. “Yes, but Washington had the Democratic Party label,” Avila points out. “That party label means something. But if you take away that label and make him run as an independent, he might not have won.”
The net effect is that citywide candidates now need more than ten times as many signatures as they used to need to make the ballot. “And in reality you need much more than 25,000,” says Avila. “Because people can challenge you.”
These days he’s a part-time telephone solicitor. “I’m running for office to stand up for the common man,” he says.
Even with no opposition from the board, Avila faces an uphill fight. Not many judges would be willing to make a ruling that’s remotely anti-Daley. For the moment the mayor’s remaining neutral, according to his press office.
Crosby then stepped forward to announce his support for the suit and to promote a September 14 meeting that his organization, the Accountability Committee, is holding to look for candidates willing to challenge Daley’s black aldermanic allies. Crosby went on to say that his committee was still trying to settle on one strong candidate to run against Daley. “Mayor Daley has been bad for the city,” he said. After the press conference, Chagin and Plump lingered to talk with reporters. “Why am I running? For many reasons,” said Plump. “The Honorable Harold Washington said we must plumb the whole community so Chicago can be all it can be. I want to carry on Mayor Washington’s legacy.”
