Two Emanuel allies back long-shot candidate for president.
Rahm Emanuel was an early supporter of Hillary Clinton’s latest bid for the White House, but Clinton hasn’t convinced even some of the mayor’s allies here that she can win the presidency this year.
A couple of major players with deep ties to Emanuel have thrown their support instead to former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, one of Clinton’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Former Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes is O’Malley’s campaign chairman in this state. Hynes endorsed Emanuel in his first campaign for mayor, showing him around his native Southwest Side at a time when the former White House chief of staff and congressman had few good friends in Chicago outside of his old North Side district.
O’Malley’s fundraising chairman in Illinois is Michael Forde, who was part of the high-powered legal team that helped Emanuel fight off a challenge to his residency status and stay on the 2011 mayoral ballot. . .
While Clinton’s strongest competitor for the Democratic nomination — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — spoke to a big crowd at his alma mater, the University of Chicago, on Monday, O’Malley quietly passed through town this week for two fundraisers.
Munum “Manny” Naeem, a United Airlines vice president, held an event for O’Malley in Naperville on Sunday evening, and there was a breakfast fundraiser Monday at the home of David Korman, the chief legal officer for the Guggenheim Partners financial services firm.
Other local contributors to O’Malley include John W. Rogers Jr., the investor who was a major backer of President Barack Obama, and real estate developer Sean Conlon, according to federal campaign finance records.
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