Rahm Emanuel's House successor to endorse him

The congressman who won Rahm Emanuel's congressional seat will endorse him for Chicago mayor on Thursday.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who holds the seat Emanuel vacated to become President Obama's chief of staff, will make his endorsement at about noon at a Chicago restaurant. His endorsement is one of a few bits of good news for Emanuel in recent days.

After an Illinois Appellate Court ruled that Emanuel did not meet residency requirements to run for mayor, thereby removing his name from the ballot, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a stay keeping Emanuel on the ballot. The Supreme Court also agreed to hear Emanuel's case, a promising sign for the former White House chief of staff.

On Wednesday, an Illinois Supreme Court justice said she didn't plan to recuse herself from the case even though her husband, a powerful city alderman, supports one of Emanuel's opponents. This, too, is probably good news for Emanuel because the Supreme Court is made up of four Democrats and three Republicans, who are unlikely to want a popular Democrat as mayor of Chicago.

The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to announce a hearing date soon — the election is about a month away.

Most polling shows Emanuel with a double-digit lead over his competitors. And a recent We Ask America poll found 71 percent of Chicagoans want Emanuel on the ballot, against 22 percent who don't and about 6 percent who don't know.

Emanuel raised more than $10.5 million in the latter half of 2010, according to campaign financial disclosures. Earlier this month, former President Bill Clinton stumped for Emanuel, who served in the Clinton administration.

Early voting begins Monday, and the election is Feb. 22.

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