Business donors not likely to rush to another mayoral candidate.

Rahm Emanuel holds a press conference at the
Better Boys Foundation on Chicago's West Side
on Jan. 4, 2011, after the Board of Elections
approved his candidacy for mayor.
Chicago’s business titans suddenly find
themselves without a horse running in the great
mayoral derby of 2011 — at least for now.
Among the mayoral candidates, Rahm Emanuel
had attracted the overwhelming proportion of
donations from corporations and big-spending
individuals. His five- and six-figure checks came
heavily from Chicago traders, money managers
and private equity investors.
Now that Emanuel has been ruled off the ballot by
the Illinois Appellate Court, will business rally
around another candidate in time to influence the
Feb. 22 outcome?
Donors themselves and the people who advise
them said Monday that ’s not likely, at least until
the Illinois Supreme Court reviews the ruling on
Emanuel ’s residency.
“The first thing these donors will do is grip the
arms of their chairs real hard and hang on,
because the next few days will be a wild ride,”
said William Brandt Jr., a corporate turnaround
specialist and an active political fund-raiser.
Jumping to another candidate won’t happen
unless the appellate ruling stands, Brandt said. “It
will be an expensive lesson for a lot of donors,
and the last thing you want to do is double down
when you don ’t know what the outcome is,” he
said.
Emanuel’s biggest donations came from the likes
of CME Group Inc., owner of the Chicago Board
of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange,
which kicked in $200,000. Ken Griffin, chief
executive of the hedge fund firm Citadel LLC, and
his wife donated $100,000 each, and Matthew
Hulsizer, chief executive of Peak6 Investments LP,
provided $150,000, among others in that range.
Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of CME Group,
said traders aren ’t ready to hedge their bets on
the candidates. “I personally believe the [appellate]
decision is wrong and is going to be overturned,”
he said.
“Rahm is somebody we see that can maintain the
international showcase values that Chicago
developed over the last 20 years under Mayor
Daley, ” Melamed said. Emanuel is a former board
member of the Chicago Merc.
Emanuel has reported raising $11.7 million for the
campaign. Among his opponents, his closest
competition in fund-raising is Gery Chico, whose
$2.5 million relies in large measure in real estate
and construction interests.
One executive who advises deep-pocketed
donors said Chico should not see a fast influx of
money. “This is not over, so there’s no reason
for the largest donors to jump ship,” the
executive said.
Even if they do support Chico or another
candidate, a new state law that limits
contributions blunts the impact. Individuals now
can give no more than $5,000 to a candidate and
businesses and associations are limited to
$10,000. Larger donations to the mayoral
candidates were made last year, before the law
took effect.
Will Emanuel be asked for refunds if he can’t run
for mayor? Brandt, who described himself as
close to Chico and candidate Miguel del Valle, said
the law clearly lets Emanuel keep the money, or
he could adopt a policy of pro-rated refunds.


Source: Http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/3475346-505/emanuel-chicago-candidate-donors-chico.html