The curious case of Chicago 45th Ward race astroturfing
A recent look through my Twitter follower list reminded me of something I meant to follow up on months ago, while Chicago run-off elections were still going on.
As you may recall from my previous posts, this year's election saw the mayor and quite a few aldermen forced into runoffs. That included the 45th ward race, which came down to a contest between incumbent Ald John Arena and John Garrido. The two men wound up in an equally contentious run-off back in 2011 that saw Old Guard alderman Patrick Levar decided not to run. It was a close race, with Arena just barely getting the seat.
Since then, Arena became one of Rahm Emanuel's most vocal opponents. Which, Garrido contended, was a problem. He argued that Arena spent too much time "grandstanding" and not enough time looking after the ward. He also argued that Arena's stances were costing the ward resources and opportunities.
While Emanuel campaign's Chicago Forward PAC didn't give money to Garrido directly, it spent loads of money campaigning against Arena. And the three anti-Emanuel labor unions - the Service Employees International Union, the Chicago Teachers Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to (both directly and indirectly) help Arena.
Throughout the election, Arena and his allies tried to undermine Garrido by calling him a Tea Party Republican. And, in fairness, the fact that he's a Republican with fiscally and socially conservative views. That's something that Garrido tried to downplay, since he knew that the label could be a liability.
Chicago elections are officially nonpartisan, but it's no secret that, in most wards, Republicans don't stand a chance of winning. It's also no secret that majority-white neighborhoods on the edges of Southwest, Northwest and South sides of Chicago are more likely to lean Republican in state and national elections. In fact, 41st Ward was represented by a Republican in the City Council until 2011, and is now represented by Republican Anthony Napolitano, who beat Democrat incumbent Mary O'Connor. Napolitano didn't really bring up his party affiliation during the campaign, and neither did O'Connor - probably because she realized that it wouldn't be a liability in the 41st Ward.
45th Ward is tricker. The northern section includes portion of Norwood Park, which trends Republican. The southern section includes more liberal-leaning Irving Park. In the middle, Jefferson Park is more of mixed bag - it is a working/lower-middle class neighborhood with a sizable Polish-American population, a neighborhood where traditions run strong, and so does respect for unions. And weariness of gun rights activism.
So when, during the run-off, I came across a Twitter feed that claimed to represent the Northwest Side Tea Party, it definitely perked my interest.
I say "claimed" because, as soon as I read its feed, I realized something was off. It was a little too much like what a liberal would imagine the Tea Party would look like. It had John Garrido all over the account, and it was a little too insistent that Garrido was one of their own.
Please support @JohnGarridoIII - the ONLY 45th Ward candidate who believes in the freedom of concealed carry. #votegarrido #teaparty
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 2, 2015
We can put a TRUE Tea Party Patriot on Chicago City Council. Vote John Garrido #45thWard #teaparty #VoteGarrido pic.twitter.com/jMkKcLmu6C
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 2, 2015
John Garrido (45th Ward) outlines best way for Tea Party to get elected in Chicago: http://t.co/099thaYdgP #votegarrido #TeaParty #45thward
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 27, 2015
John Garrido stands with the Tea Party. Vote Garrido today in 45th! #teaparty #concealedcarry #votegarrido #45thward pic.twitter.com/Uv1bXGHk8R
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) April 7, 2015
And then, there's this
. @trelliott Thank you Chicago Forward for supporting John Garrido in the 45th Ward. We appreciate all you've done! #votegarrido #TeaParty
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 18, 2015
And their Twitter account banner is not subtle at all
Looking at their feed, there was nothing about Garrido-related tweets and retweets of Tea Party meemes. Nothing about the Northwest Side Tea Party itself.
At the time, I told them point-blank that I didn't buy that they were a real Tea Party. They denied it, of course - while saying that Garrido is totally a Tea Party guy and I should totally vote for him.
And here's something that I didn't realize until just recently. The account was created shortly after it became clear that 45th ward election would be forced into a run-off. And it hasn't posted anything since shortly after the run-off election.
So who is responsible for this? I am inclined to believe that it's one of the unions that supported Arena. Maybe it was someone in Arena's campaign itself. I hope that's not the case, but this is Chicago. One can never get too comfortable with anyone who projects the image of honesty and integrity.
Arena wound up winning the run-off election by a larger margin than the 2015 run-off. Did the fake Tea Party account wind up hurting Garrido enough to make a difference? No way to know. But it certainly didn't hurt Arena.
And honestly, part of me can't help but be morbidly fascinated at the creative lengths campaigns may be willing to go to in this day and age.
As you may recall from my previous posts, this year's election saw the mayor and quite a few aldermen forced into runoffs. That included the 45th ward race, which came down to a contest between incumbent Ald John Arena and John Garrido. The two men wound up in an equally contentious run-off back in 2011 that saw Old Guard alderman Patrick Levar decided not to run. It was a close race, with Arena just barely getting the seat.
Since then, Arena became one of Rahm Emanuel's most vocal opponents. Which, Garrido contended, was a problem. He argued that Arena spent too much time "grandstanding" and not enough time looking after the ward. He also argued that Arena's stances were costing the ward resources and opportunities.
While Emanuel campaign's Chicago Forward PAC didn't give money to Garrido directly, it spent loads of money campaigning against Arena. And the three anti-Emanuel labor unions - the Service Employees International Union, the Chicago Teachers Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to (both directly and indirectly) help Arena.
Throughout the election, Arena and his allies tried to undermine Garrido by calling him a Tea Party Republican. And, in fairness, the fact that he's a Republican with fiscally and socially conservative views. That's something that Garrido tried to downplay, since he knew that the label could be a liability.
Chicago elections are officially nonpartisan, but it's no secret that, in most wards, Republicans don't stand a chance of winning. It's also no secret that majority-white neighborhoods on the edges of Southwest, Northwest and South sides of Chicago are more likely to lean Republican in state and national elections. In fact, 41st Ward was represented by a Republican in the City Council until 2011, and is now represented by Republican Anthony Napolitano, who beat Democrat incumbent Mary O'Connor. Napolitano didn't really bring up his party affiliation during the campaign, and neither did O'Connor - probably because she realized that it wouldn't be a liability in the 41st Ward.
45th Ward is tricker. The northern section includes portion of Norwood Park, which trends Republican. The southern section includes more liberal-leaning Irving Park. In the middle, Jefferson Park is more of mixed bag - it is a working/lower-middle class neighborhood with a sizable Polish-American population, a neighborhood where traditions run strong, and so does respect for unions. And weariness of gun rights activism.
So when, during the run-off, I came across a Twitter feed that claimed to represent the Northwest Side Tea Party, it definitely perked my interest.
I say "claimed" because, as soon as I read its feed, I realized something was off. It was a little too much like what a liberal would imagine the Tea Party would look like. It had John Garrido all over the account, and it was a little too insistent that Garrido was one of their own.
Please support @JohnGarridoIII - the ONLY 45th Ward candidate who believes in the freedom of concealed carry. #votegarrido #teaparty
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 2, 2015
We can put a TRUE Tea Party Patriot on Chicago City Council. Vote John Garrido #45thWard #teaparty #VoteGarrido pic.twitter.com/jMkKcLmu6C
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 2, 2015
John Garrido (45th Ward) outlines best way for Tea Party to get elected in Chicago: http://t.co/099thaYdgP #votegarrido #TeaParty #45thward
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 27, 2015
John Garrido stands with the Tea Party. Vote Garrido today in 45th! #teaparty #concealedcarry #votegarrido #45thward pic.twitter.com/Uv1bXGHk8R
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) April 7, 2015
And then, there's this
. @trelliott Thank you Chicago Forward for supporting John Garrido in the 45th Ward. We appreciate all you've done! #votegarrido #TeaParty
- NW Side Tea Party (@NWSideTeaParty) March 18, 2015
And their Twitter account banner is not subtle at all
Looking at their feed, there was nothing about Garrido-related tweets and retweets of Tea Party meemes. Nothing about the Northwest Side Tea Party itself.
At the time, I told them point-blank that I didn't buy that they were a real Tea Party. They denied it, of course - while saying that Garrido is totally a Tea Party guy and I should totally vote for him.
And here's something that I didn't realize until just recently. The account was created shortly after it became clear that 45th ward election would be forced into a run-off. And it hasn't posted anything since shortly after the run-off election.
So who is responsible for this? I am inclined to believe that it's one of the unions that supported Arena. Maybe it was someone in Arena's campaign itself. I hope that's not the case, but this is Chicago. One can never get too comfortable with anyone who projects the image of honesty and integrity.
Arena wound up winning the run-off election by a larger margin than the 2015 run-off. Did the fake Tea Party account wind up hurting Garrido enough to make a difference? No way to know. But it certainly didn't hurt Arena.
And honestly, part of me can't help but be morbidly fascinated at the creative lengths campaigns may be willing to go to in this day and age.