Hoping Prominent Support Will Translate to Victories

Two of Chicago’s most prominent reform politicians gave their blessings to candidates last week. The beneficiaries better hope it is not an omen.

Paul Vallas, the former Chicago public schools chief executive — whose narrow loss to Rod R. Blagojevich in the 2002 Democratic primary for governor has made him a favorite “I told you so” lesson of the good-government crowd — endorsed David Hoffman, a Democrat, for the United States Senate on Wednesday.

In a less-publicized race, Forrest Claypool, a Cook County commissioner, lent his backing to Jesus Garcia, the former alderman and state senator who is running against Joseph Mario Moreno, an incumbent county commissioner. Mr. Claypool cemented his reform credentials during his failed bid against the late John Stroger in the 2006 Democratic primary for president of the Cook County Board.

Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Garcia have styled themselves as independents running against the established political order and are hoping the endorsements will bolster those claims.

Yet while Mr. Vallas and Mr. Claypool have earned acclaim for taking on the entrenched powers, neither man ever beat them.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 4:26 am and is filed under The Pulse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.