Garry McCarthy Mulls Run for Chicago Mayor


UPDATE: Garry McCarthy Announces Run for Chicago Mayor

Will he or won’t he? Former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is sounding more and more like a candidate for Chicago mayor but says he won’t pull the trigger on a decision until next month.

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In the meantime, McCarthy’s appearance at a fundraiser at the Irish American Heritage Center – surrounded by “Garry McCarthy for Mayor” paraphernalia – made news with his speech which alienated some leaders in the African-American community. 

“The fact is we all know that our city is in a mess,” McCarthy said. “We are losing blacks and you know which blacks we are losing? We are losing the middle-class taxpayers who can afford to get out from the South and West Sides. So who is being left behind is the trigger-pullers. What kind of toxic soup is being created on the South and West Sides?”

Incensed African-American aldermen are calling his “trigger-puller” remarks “off-putting, disrespectful to black people,” said Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward), who is the chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) said McCarthy’s statements are “extremely offensive.”

McCarthy was chief of the police department in Newark, New Jersey, when Mayor Rahm Emanuel chose him in 2011 to lead the Chicago Police Department. In December 2015, McCarthy was ousted by Emanuel over the fatal shooting of Laquan MacDonald. Officer Jason van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of McDonald – the case is likely to be one of the issues that will loom large over next year’s election.

McCarthy joins us to discuss his possible run for mayor against Emanuel.

More interviews with mayoral candidates:

Lori Lightfoot

Paul Vallas

Dorothy Brown

Ja’Mal Green

Neal Sáles-Griffin

Troy LaRaviere

Willie Wilson


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