If you’ve been following the Chicago mayoral race, you know that the entire city is excited to elect their first new mayor in 22 years. The candidates have been making the rounds for months, but last night it was Chicago’s next generation of leaders who got to meet and mingle with them. It was a big night for the more than 300 prospective voters who attended a cool event we hosted with Chicago Votes and Rockit Bar and Grill after an important debate just days before the election on Feb. 22.
TV cameras and reporters captured the stories of young people who were eager to have the opportunity to interact with candidates, including Gery Chico and Miguel De Valle who stopped by the bar to give remarks and directly address the issues that matter most to young Chicagoans as they head to their polling place on Tuesday. As an added bonus, native Chicagoan and “American Idol” winner Lee DeWyze played several songs and told the crowd that the only way to make politicians pay attention to young people was for us to turn out and vote.
With many of the serious questions addressed during the debate, which we broadcast on dozens of TVs, we got to have a little fun with the audience back at the bar. (For the record, we did reserve one TV for the Bulls game out of Chicago sports pride, but I’m pleased to report that virtually all eyes were locked on the candidates.) We asked the crowd to text us their responses to these questions and here are the results:
Which candidate would you like to have a beer with?
Gery Chico – 72%
Miguel del Valle – 15%
Rahm Emanuel – 7%
Patricia Watkins – 3%
Carol Moseley Braun – 1%
Doc Walls III – 1%
Which candidate is most likely to sit in the front row of a Blackhawks game and bang on the glass?
Rahm Emanuel – 36%
Gery Chico – 21%
Miguel del Valle – 14%
Patricia Watkins – 14%
Doc Walls III – 14%
Carol Moseley Braun – 0%
Rock the Vote is proud that we were able to provide a platform where young people could actually grab beers with candidates at Rockit last night, and we thank everyone who participated.
I was personally pumped to be dispatched by Rock the Vote HQ in DC for this event because Chicago is also my hometown and because this is such an important election, I wanted to rally my peers to the polls. This race has received a lot of attention because of the famous Beltway face attached to it, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (who is also the brother of Hollywood mega-agent Ari Emanuel, for all you Entourage fans). Having grown up here, though, I can attest that it is about a lot more than that for the city’s young people. It’s the first time they’ve had a chance to vote for anyone other than Mayor Daley in decades.
It definitely marks a turning point in our city’s future, which is ours for the making. We hear a lot about high-profile presidential elections, but it’s also important for all of us -wherever we live – to also take care of things at home.
