The Chicago mayoral election will take place on Feb. 24. Current mayor Rahm Emanuel, Cook County Commissioner Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia and second ward alderman Bob Fioretti have been viewed as front runners on many polls. Also running are William ‘Dock’ Walls, Amara Enyia, Frederick Collins and Robert Shaw.

The election surrounds issues such as education, public safety, revenue and economic development.
One of the major topics surrounding the education debate is the school board, which since 1995, the executive of the school board has been chosen by the mayor. Candidates such as Fioretti, Shaw, Walls, and Enyia want the school board to be elected, and Walls believes that the school board executive should be a certified education.

“I’m definitely for an elected school board and against closing schools,” said Jay Rehak, English teacher and president of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.
Another hot topic regarding education is charter schools. Several candidates, including Fioretti and Enyia believe that charter schools should stop being created.
Other topics in the education debate include free community college, universal pre-kindergarten and restoring truant officers.

“I think everybody should definitely vote for Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia,” said Rosalba Valdez ‘17. “He’s not like Rahm who says he’s for better schools, better education when all he did was close a billion schools and make things worse for many people.”

A poll back in January done by independent polling company Ogden and Fry, predicted that Rahm Emanuel would lead the election with 36% of the vote. The polling company wrote in their analysis that they had little doubt that Rahm Emanuel would lead the election, but they thought it was likely Garcia would force a runoff election, which would take place on April 7. A runoff happens if one candidate does not get at least 50% of the vote.