As announced last October, Chicago emcee was looking to run for the position of Alderman in the the city’s 20th Ward. Now, after coming in second in the elections this past Tuesday, ‘Fest will face off against the incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran.
According to the Chicago-Sun Times, each candidate must receive at least 50% of the vote in order to be officially elected Alderman. Although Ald. Cochran received 46% of the vote, Rhymefest, né Che Smith, received 20% of the votes, giving him enough leeway to go head-to-head with Cochran this April in a run-off election.
Although ‘Fest isn’t out of the race yet, he feels that another candidate on the five-person ballot hurt his chances this first time around. He says that people might have been confused by the name of another candidate, Andre Smith, but that now that the count is down to two candidates, he feels he has the chance to pull ahead.
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“A lot of people didn’t vote for Cochran,” he said. “People want change, and those who voted for Andre and George Davis will join up with me for change. I’m having a revolution of love. We want the 20th Ward to be a village again.”
‘Fest also took to Twitter to rally support from his fans and fellow musicians. The run-off election will be held this April 5.
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Thanks to all of your tweets, RTs and support. We have a run-off on April 5th. We need volunteers and we need donations!
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We have 42 days to make this happen. I’m going out today to get to work immediately but I cannot do this alone.
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(February 24)
UPDATE: Today, a spokesperson for Rhymefest released a statement from Reverend Al Sharpton, endorsing the emcee-turned-20th Ward Alderman candidate. “We are always asking for our youth, our entertainers, to come back and make a difference in their communities. We are asking them to get involved and give back. Che is doing that. I am here today because I support Che Rhymefest Smith. If he was a negative force, I would not be here today.”
The run off is planned for April 5th.
