Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 11:02 a.m.
Only five of the city's 50 aldermen declined to help Mayor Richard Daley's re-election campaign do the political dirty work of collecting nominating signatures.
According to campaign, the five dissenters were Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th), Freddrenna Lyle (6th), Ricardo Munoz (22nd), Toni Preckwinckle (4th) and Joe Moore (49th).
Daley turned in far fewer signatures than in past elections, when groups such as the Hispanic Democratic Organization used legions of patronage workers to campaign for the mayor. That practice all but ended with the ongoing federal investigation of City Hall hiring fraud.
Instead, Daley campaign manager Terry Peterson reached out to ward organizations, often led by aldermen.
Moore said he got a call from Peterson, but the conversation was vague.
"Not that I necessarily would have done it, but he never really put the ask on me," Moore said. "Maybe he thought I wouldn't do it. He said he was calling to touch base."
Moore and the mayor have clashed over the big-box wage ordinance and the foie gras ban, both of which were sponsored by Moore.