Flores Pulling No Punches – in Bid to Unseat Granato

Ald. Jesse Granato (1st), who squeaked through two previous runoff elections, is in another cliffhanger.

Granato, 44, the Regular Democratic Organization’s endorsed candidate, is seeking to fend off a powerful challenge in Tuesday’s runoff with Manny Flores, an assistant state’s attorney.

Flores, 31, an independent making his first bid for elective office, finished ahead of Granato by 56 votes in the Feb. 25 municipal election. But Granato stayed alive when a third candidate took 3 percent of the vote and denied Flores a majority.

The 1st Ward, which for many years was made up of the Loop and the Near West Side, was broken up by Mayor Daley in the early 1990s because of its longtime connection to organized crime. On Daley’s instructions, a new Hispanic-majority 1st Ward was created. It now includes parts of the neighborhoods of Wicker Park, West Town, Logan Square and Lake View.

Granato has high-powered support from Gov. Blagojevich, Mayor Daley, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), the Hispanic Democratic Organization, and the Latin American Police Association. The endorsement of Gutierrez is a blow to Flores, who once worked for the congressman. “I’m for Jesse because the mayor wants him and because Jesse has always supported me,” said Gutierrez. “But I have the highest esteem for Manny.”

The alderman’s most important endorsement, though, is from his wife, Avril Falkenberg Granato. Flores is seeking to make the election a referendum on Granato’s 1997 arrest on charges of domestic battery. Granato was held overnight in a police lockup after police were called to his home. But the charges were dropped when his wife declined to cooperate with prosecutors. About 85 percent of domestic violence cases never go to trial.

The Flores campaign has put up signs throughout the ward attacking Granato as a “wife beater” and “a drunk.” Flores also has put out a flier with similar allegations.

In a letter to ward residents, the alderman’s wife accuses Flores of “character assassination,” denounces him as “a political

opportunist,” and says that his account of “this incident” is “a gross exaggeration” and “a big lie.”

Mrs. Granato acknowledges, though, in her letter that she had an argument with her husband in 1997 and that police were called to their home. According to public records, she signed a complaint against Granato saying that he had grabbed and twisted her left arm, “causing bruising and redness” to her wrist. But in the letter to ward residents, the alderman’s wife gives a different version.

“I lost my temper,” she says. “Jesse tried to calm me down.” She describes him as “a good man” who “has never been abusive.”

Without this character reference from his wife, Granato wouldn’t have a prayer in Tuesday’s runoff. She has kept him in the game.

Feminists are unpersuaded by this testimonial. Flores has the support of the National Organization for Women, Cook County Democratic Women, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.

Flores also has the backing of state Senators Miguel del Valle and Rickey Hendon, former top-ranked prizefighter Johnny Lira, and Water Reclamation District Commissioner Frank Avila.

Granato, a longtime resident of the area, is attempting to tag Flores as a carpetbagger. Much of the 1st Ward is made up of precincts formerly in the 32nd Ward. Granato worked as an aide to former Ald. Terry Gabinski and former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski. He knows every street and alley in the reconstituted 1st Ward.

Flores, who lived in DuPage County as recently as last year, was knocked off the ballot in January when the Chicago Board of Elections ruled that he had not been a resident for two years as required under a 1999 law. But a circuit judge struck down the law as unconstitutional and put Flores back on the ballot.

It should be noted that Granato is the topic of a fascinating new book, It Happened Four Years Ago, by Peter Zelchenko. After the 1999 election, Granato’s rival Cynthia Soto moved into the alderman’s old office and found a treasure trove of strategy memos and other confidential documents. Soto shared this material with Zelchenko. He has written the inside story about how aldermanic elections are decided in this town. For anyone who loves Chicago politics, this book is a must-read.