Bernie Sanders endorses Rahm challenger

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has become the latest high-profile progressive to endorse Cook County Commissioner Chuy García’s challenge to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D).

“I am going to Chicago to support Chuy García and [City Council candidate] Susan Sadlowski Garza. I support them because we need a political revolution in this country and we need the kind of working-class coalitions that Chuy and Susan are pulling together,” Sanders said in a statement.

{mosads}“At a time when the wealthiest people and largest corporations are becoming richer while virtually everyone else is becoming poorer, working-class people have got to fight back. And that is what the campaigns of Chuy and Susan are all about.”

García is in a closely-watched runoff race with Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff. Emanuel failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote in a February round of voting that would have precluded a runoff election.

García has portrayed Emanuel as a mayor for only the wealthiest Chicagoans, attracting the support of national progressives and labor unions. Sanders is an independent socialist and one of the most liberal members of the upper chamber. He’s also a possible rival to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Earlier this month, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) endorsed García. Dean and Emanuel had a contentious relationship when Dean was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

A poll last week found that Emanuel holds a solid lead over García, but that close to 20 percent of voters remain undecided. Emanuel has consistently outspent García — though García has recieved a boost in recent weeks from national progressive groups who have sent out appeals on his behalf.