UPDATE: Chance the Rapper has endorsed Amara Enyia for mayor of Chicago, he announced Tuesday. Click here for more.
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Could Chance the Rapper be running for mayor? That's what many fans are thinking after the rapper posted plans for a press conference at Chicago’s City Hall “regarding Chicago Mayoral Election."
“City Hall pull up,” he wrote on Twitter Monday.
The announcement was set for 10 a.m. and although Chance did not specify which day, it was expected to take place Tuesday.
Hours earlier the 25-year-old Chicago icon tweeted “Im thinkin maybe I should,” prompting speculation from many that the rapper would be announcing a run for mayor. In his song "Somewhere in Paradise," the rapper sings, "They screaming Chano for mayor, I'm thinking maybe I should."
Still, the announcement could be instead to throw his support behind a current candidate. Multiple sources tied to the mayoral race said they believed Chance was planning to endorse Amara Enyia, an attorney and community activist with a doctorate in education policy.
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When asked if he'd be announcing his support for Enyia, who also ran for Chicago mayor in 2015, her campaign replied, "we'll see."
Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, comes from a family with a political background and has spent millions of dollars of his own money to help Chicago Public Schools and the area's mental health services. He has long been critical of the city's politics, particularly funding for education and the city's response to the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
Chance's father Ken Bennett served as deputy chief of staff and director for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Office of Public Engagement. The elder Bennett worked for former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and President Barack Obama as well.
This time around, Ken Bennett is backing Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle for mayor, and was by her side as she announced her campaign last month.
Another candidate for mayor, Ja'Mal Green, has ties to the rapper's family, saying he joined the race when he was unable to convince Ken Bennett himself to run.
It didn't appear as though Green would be earning Chance's endorsement Tuesday, as the 23-year-old community activist tweeted in response, "Politics = no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. #MovingInSilence."
Chance's press conference was slated to take place weeks after Emanuel announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
Fans began tweeting things like "Chano for mayor" following the latest series of tweets - not the first time fans have called for such a move.
