15th Ward - 2023 Aldermanic Race
Raymond Lopez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Raymond Lopez was first elected alderman in 2015 in an open seat runoff after defeating Rafael Yanez to replace Toni Foulkes. Lopez won the 2015 election with support from several incumbent aldermen, including Ald. Tom Tunney (44), Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) and neighboring Ald. Ed Burke (14).
The outspoken firebrand Lopez won reelection in 2019, again defeating Yanez in a runoff. During his first term as alderman, Lopez was a generally reliable vote for former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s policies. But his support for the administration flipped after Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office. Lopez took immediate offense at Lightfoot’s mission to squelch aldermanic prerogative, and has since been one of Lightfoot’s most outspoken and consistent opponents. Lopez is a member of the LGBT Caucus and is a staunch supporter of the Chicago Police Department and of tough-on-crime policies.
Lopez first entered the 2023 election season as a candidate for mayor. He was the first candidate to formally launch a campaign in 2022, but on the first day candidates could file petitions for the Feb. 28 election, Lopez announced he was pulling out of the mayoral race for another shot at reelection as alderman.
Vicko Alvarez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Vicko Alvarez got her start in public service as a union organizer while she was an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. A child of Mexican immigrants, Alvarez was born and raised in Texas. She moved to Chicago for college, and as a student, she helped campus workers organize for fair union contracts.
After she graduated, Alvarez held on to her union roots and went on to work as the campaigns director at the United Students Against Sweatshops and Lead Worker Organizer with the United Steelworkers Union. She more recently worked as chief of staff for Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33). Many of Alvarez’s policy goals differ from Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), who is running for reelection as alderman after dropping out of bid for mayor, particularly in the realm of crime prevention.
Gloria Williams - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Born in Arkansas, Gloria Williams family moved to Chicago during the 1960s and settled in West Englewood, where Williams has stayed for the rest of her life. She worked for the Chicago Urban League and UCAN Chicago Career Service soon after obtaining her bachelor’s from Chicago State University, and then went on to create Voices of Englewood – a community organization dedicated to educating Englewood residents. Her role with the organization has had her work with “all the representatives, the state senator[s], the aldermen,” she said in an interview with South Side Weekly. “We work alongside Residents Association of Greater Englewood….and we talk about social issues, the economic issues that we’re facing in Englewood.” Beyond her nonprofit work, Williams has worked as a resident service coordinator for almost eight years at the East Lake Management & Development Corporation.
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