Only 2 Chicago mayoral candidates show up to Republican forum

CHICAGO - Most of Chicago’s candidates for mayor skipped a forum on the Southwest Side Monday night for a reason some may find surprising.

Mayoral hopefuls Rod Sawyer and Willie Wilson showed up at the forum hosted by the 19th Ward’s Southwest Side GOP Club. But seven of the nine candidates for mayor did not, including Paul Vallas, an on-again-off-again resident of the ward.

"There are a lot of votes here. And he’s kind of popular. But he won’t be as popular if he’s a no-show," said Steve Graves.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign routinely attacks rivals Vallas and Wilson as "Republicans." A spokesman for Vallas told Fox 32 Chicago, "We’re not going because we’re Democrats, not Republicans."

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"The Republican Party’s job is to make our name not quite the ‘Scarlet Letter’ it currently is," said Steve Boulton, Chair of the Chicago Republican Party.

"I’m not a Democrat. I’m not a Republican. I’m for the people," said Willie Wilson.

Some candidates canceled when they saw this was a Republican event.

"(I’m here) because they’re people like I am. I want to hear what they think. They want to hear me. And I am coming for their votes," said Ald. Rod Sawyer.

The political reality is, even if the Republican Party base vote in Chicago is only 13 to 15 percentage points, that could be enough in a nine candidate field to propel a contender into the April 4th runoff election.