Current law in the Prairie State only allows for recall elections of governors, not mayors. But in the case of the rapidly sinking Rahm Emanuel, even the corrupt Illinois legislature might be willing to make an exception:
The furor over recent Chicago police shootings has legislators considering whether voters should be allowed to recall Mayor Rahm Emanuel or future officials who hold his post.
Illinois state law currently addresses only the recall of a governor, a provision voters approved in 2010 after former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested and impeached. Now, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat, wants voters to also have the power to remove the mayor of the country’s third-largest city. In light of the unrest in the city, Ford said, “It’s clearly the right thing to have on the books.”
But what about mayors in other Illinois cities? What about state lawmakers? How does Illinois compare to other states when it comes to recalls? Here’s a closer look at those questions and the particulars of Ford’s measure.
The piece, published in the Huffington Post, goes on to look at the ins and outs of getting such a measure put into state law. The bottom line: it’s unlikely any time soon, but that’s not the point. It’s just another warning shot across the bow of America’s least-loved mayor, and will eventually spell the well-deserved end of his political career. Message: get out and stay out.
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