MCCARTHY PLANNING FEBRUARY FUND RAISE R
Former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is planning to hold a fundraiser next month for a potential challenge to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but McCarthy says his mind isn’t yet set on taking the plunge.
McCarthy served as the city’s top cop between 2011 and 2015 and was ousted by Emanuel after the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video. With $ 2.25 million in his war chest, Emanuel faces no serious challengers as of yet. But his election is more than a year away.
McCarthy’s fundraiser is scheduled for Feb. 11 at the Irish American Heritage Center on the Northwest Side, with tickets ranging from $ 100 to $ 5,000.
“I’m still standing by,” McCarthy told the Sun- Times on Monday, adding he’s weighing the financial and personal decisions involved with running.
“I’m talking to my family and making decisions about my finances, and so on,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy’s campaign fund has about $ 44,000 in it, according to campaign finance filings. A quarterly filing is due on Jan. 15.
McCarthy in September filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections to create The Garry McCarthy For Mayor Exploratory Committee.
Last April, McCarthy said “a lot of people” were encouraging him to run for mayor in 2019, but politics is “not in my DNA” and he’s “not very good at that.”
McCarthy has been vocal since Emanuel fired him in December 2015, saying he had become “a distraction” in the aftermath of the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video.