David Hoffman, who often infuriated retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley as City Hall’s inspector general, said Thursday that he endorsed Rahm Emanuel to succeed Daley.
Hoffman appeared with Emanuel as the former White House chief of staff unveiled his ethics plan in December, but at that time Hoffman said he had not yet endorsed any candidate.
“He has the potential to be quite independent of the political power structure, perhaps more so than some of the other candidates,” Hoffman told the Chicago News Cooperative on Thursday. “He is very smart. I think he has great potential.”
Hoffman briefly considered running for mayor after Daley said in September that he would not seek another term. He lost to Alexi Giannoulias in last year’s Democratic Senate primary, although he received strong support in many wards in the city, including areas where the local party leaders supported Giannoulias.
A former federal prosecutor, Hoffman gained broad notoriety for targeting corruption and waste in the Daley administration, including investigations that targeted the mayor’s family and allies as well as a critique of Daley’s privatization of the city parking meter system.