Ward 23 Challenger Says Things Have Gotten Racial In Aldermanic Contest
(CBS) – One 23rd Ward candidate is accusing incumbent Ald. Michael Zalewski of using racially tinged ads to scare supporters.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.
Thomas Goral calls it dirty politics, even by Chicago standards.
"I just couldn't imagine they would stoop so low and do it," he says.
"This" would be campaign mailers targeting his mother, 23rd Ward candidate Anna Goral. They claim Goral, a real estate agent, supports Section 8 housing and voting for her would bring criminals to the ward, which is on Chicago's Southwest Side.
"Racial charges should not be part of any election," Anna Goral says.
Some of the mailers are handmade – crude and thereby, untraceable. One states that Goral would "bring blacks and Mexicans to the neighborhood."
Others are slick, professional and apparently traceable -- paid for by Friends of Mike Zalewski, the longtime incumbent.
Martin Arteaga is also running for alderman. He's says the tone of this race has gotten nastier in the past two weeks; he calls it "race-baiting."
Tracking down Zalewski was no easy feat. He did not return several messages.
