Donor moves on from Emanuel — to McCarthy
Owner of restaurant group gave $25,000 to ex-police leader
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel stunned Chicago earlier this month by announcing he was dropping his bid for a third term, he already had raised nearly $10.9 million toward his re-election effort — five times the combined amount collected by his 12 challengers.
For months, some of Emanuel’s top opponents privately groused that they were having trouble raising dough for their budding campaigns, contending that some business owners and influential donors had said they wanted to help but didn’t want to cross the mayor.
With Emanuel out of the Feb. 26 election, the first sign of a major donor moving on from the mayor emerged this week when Richard Melman, owner and founder of restaurant giant Lettuce Entertain You, gave $25,000 to former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
“I’ve had a great relationship with the Melman family since I got here. As a matter of fact, one of my great friends from New York was a business partner with Rich Melman and basically introduced me to the Melmans when I first got here,” McCarthy said in a brief interview, without naming the mutual friend. “So, we’ve had that relationship for seven and a half, eight years now. At the end of the day, it was a good opportunity for them to shift gears and come over into the light.”
Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You owns more than 120 restaurants in nine states, 53 of them in the city including Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab; Three Dots and a Dash; Shaw’s Crab House; RPM Italian; Hub 51; Studio Paris; RJ Grunts and many more.
So how long after Emanuel bowed out of the race did McCarthy wait to call for the contribution? “Probably a few minutes,” he said with a smile.
“And I couldn’t help but be sarcastic as I’m sure you know,” McCarthy said. “I asked one of the members of the family, ‘So are you guys getting your money back?’ And he said, ‘Somehow I was expecting this phone call.’ ”
Emanuel has said he would return the remaining money in his campaign fund to donors, telling the Tribune “it’s their money, not mine.” In May, Melman was among the donors who helped Emanuel raise nearly $3 million in just two weeks, giving $150,000 to the mayor’s campaign.
Since 2010, contributions from Melman family members, the group’s restaurants and its employees to Emanuel’s political funds totaled more than $700,000, records show. Of that, Richard Melman himself has contributed $410,900 to Emanuel.
Melman did not immediately respond to a request for an interview to discuss his newfound support of McCarthy.
The Chicago Tribune previously has detailed the timing and circumstances of Melman and Lettuce Entertain You contributions to the mayor as part of its investigations into how Emanuel has relied on donors who have received City Hall benefits.
In a report last year, the Tribune detailed how Emanuel had accepted money from businesses that benefited from major concessionaire contracts at O’Hare International and Midway International airports. Lettuce Entertain You has been granted access to travelers under concession deals at both airports.
The Tribune reported how Emanuel met with Melman and Lettuce Entertain You executives in February 2017, less than two weeks before the Midway concessions contracts won City Hall approval. The following month, Emanuel received 32 contributions tied to Melman’s company totaling nearly $100,000.
Emanuel also previously collected campaign cash at a March 2014 fundraiser Lettuce Entertain You held at the mayor’s request, an event at Joe’s that came one month before Emanuel cut the ribbon on a newly remodeled O’Hare terminal that included three new Melman restaurants, the Tribune previously reported.
Since Emanuel departed the mayor’s race on Sept. 4, McCarthy has reeled in the most campaign cash — $46,000, state campaign finance records show. That’s followed by $12,000 reported by former Police Board President and onetime federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot. Millionaire businessman Willie Wilson has loaned $70,000 to his campaign fund in the last 10 days, records show.
At the end of June — the last time candidates filed full quarterly campaign finance reports — Lightfoot had raised $510,000 toward her bid compared to $445,000 for former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and $425,000 for McCarthy.
Since then, McCarthy has outraised Lightfoot $119,676 to $105,127, records show. That only includes contributions of $1,000 or more that candidates must report within five days of receiving. Smaller dollar donations only are reported quarterly.
Since June, Vallas has reported raising just $8,500. In May, however, Vallas collected $200,000 from companies with ties to Chicago Blackhawks and United Center owner Rocky Wirtz.
The liquor magnate had contributed smaller amounts to Emanuel in the past, but had become upset with the mayor’s increase in the city amusement tax for concerts at the United Center. In 2016, Emanuel returned six campaign contributions totaling $26,500 tied to Wirtz, who gave the money through several of his businesses as he sought to reach a deal with the city to allow construction of a new practice center for the Blackhawks.