Emanuel Survives, Some Allies Don't
Mayor Rahm Emanuel wins runoff. AP: "With nearly all voting precincts reporting results, Emanuel had about 56 percent of the vote ... Emanuel raised far more money than Garcia, plastered the airwaves with ads and had support from his former boss, President Barack Obama..."
But Emanuel allies on city council have rough night. Chicago Tribune: "A fierce critic of Mayor Rahm Emanuel fended off an opponent backed by pro-Emanuel political groups Tuesday ... Six other aldermen who have been strong backers of Emanuel's agenda didn't fare as well and were trailing challengers late into the night with most or all of the votes counted in their races. Some were well behind, while others were close enough that they could pull out narrow victories once absentee ballots are counted in coming days."
Progressive challenge exposes "vulnerability." NYT: "... his second term in City Hall may look different, in style and perhaps substance, from the first. A chastened Mr. Emanuel on Tuesday night thanked the voters for 'putting me through my paces,' and he promised to be a better mayor because of it, bringing voters’ voices and concerns into his office."
Now Emanuel turns to pensions. McClatchy: "...by year's end Emanuel may have to find a way to close $2 billion in budget deficits at City Hall and Chicago Public Schools. The shortfalls are driven mostly by long-bypassed pension funding costs coming due ... The current contract with Chicago Teachers Union, reached in 2012 after a seven-school-day strike, expires in June ... a once-flush teachers retirement fund has been ravaged by wholesale diversions of billions of dollars of tax money owed to the pensions over much of the past two decades."
Turnout boost in Ferguson city council election. NYT: "...voters elected two black candidates to the City Council on Tuesday, increasing the number of African-Americans on the governing body to three. But ... voters rejected several candidates who had the direct backing of protest activists ... Turnout was just under 30 percent ... but nearly three times the turnout for the last Council election."
Liberals and conservatives claim victory in WI court election. NYT: "...voters on Tuesday re-elected a State Supreme Court justice seen as liberal, but passed a constitutional amendment that will most likely lead to the installation of a conservative chief justice ... [Conservatives] wanted to increase their majority on the officially nonpartisan court ... [The amendment lets] members of the court vote for the chief justice, rather than automatically installing the longest-serving judge in that position."
Rand Is In
Rand Paul announces with a conservative populist message. NYT: "... Paul ... outlined his positions on economic policy, saying that poor cities should benefit from 'economic freedom zones' and manufacturing jobs could be created by cutting taxes for American companies that return overseas profits to the United States."
Rand Paul's announcement speech full of lies. W. Post: "...we are not sure where he gets the idea that Obama has tripled the national debt ... [The] increase [has been] about 71 percent ... the debt went up 190 percent under Ronald Reagan ..."
Promising Sign In Immigration Court Fight
Obama's 2012 DREAMer executive order wins in court. The Hill: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against [the 2012] Obama administration program delaying deportations of certain illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. [It was a] unanimous opinion from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals..."
Next up is Obama's 2014 deportation relief. AP: "A federal judge in Texas late Tuesday kept a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's executive action ... The [Fifth Circuit] appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments on whether the injunction should be lifted on April 17."
