CHICAGO — Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun kicked off her campaign for Chicago mayor Saturday by reintroducing herself to voters.
Braun, who runs an organic-food company, was the last of six major candidates to formally declare her candidacy to replace retiring Mayor Richard Daley, who has presided over the city for more than 20 years but announced in September that he wouldn’t seek a seventh term. The former senator joins a field that includes former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
“While the city has many challenges - creating jobs, balancing our budget, fixing our schools, protecting our seniors and our children, and making our government more accountable to the people - I stand before you today in the fervent belief that there is no city in this country better positioned for progress and opportunity for all its citizens than Chicago,” Braun told more than 100 supporters at an outdoor rally on Chicago’s lakefront with the skyline as her backdrop.
Braun, 63, made history when she was elected in 1992 as the first black woman in the U.S. Senate. She lost a reelection bid in 1998 and was later named ambassador to New Zealand.
Braun also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 11/21/2010