CHICAGO (AP) - Grammy-award winning rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith has made it into a runoff race for a Chicago City Council seat.
With all precincts reporting, the rapper had 20 percent of the vote, trailing incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran, who had 46 percent. Since no candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two advance to the runoff.
The rapper, who’s lived in Chicago for years, vowed to pick up support from three other candidates who did not make the runoff. He had received backing from the city’s powerful Chicago Teachers’ Union. His platform included bringing green business to the 20th Ward on the city’s South Side, which includes some of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago.
Rhymefest won a Grammy in 2004 for co-writing “Jesus Walks” with Kanye West.
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