2023 Chicago Municipal Elections Racing Form
The 2023 Chicago municipal elections is scheduled for February 28, 2023. Voters will select the next mayor, City Council, city clerk, and city treasurer of Chicago. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a runoff election, will be held on April 4, 2023.
The election is officially nonpartisan, meaning that candidates do not run under a specific political party affiliation.
Early voting begins January 26th at the Voter Supersite at 191 N. Clark and the Board Offices at 69 w. Washington, 6th Floor.
Early voting throughout the wards will begin on February 13th.
Sophia King - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Ald. Sophia King (4), one of several progressive challengers in this year’s mayor’s race, has said tackling violence and creating a better relationship between the City Council and mayor are two top priorities should she win the crowded election.
King was appointed to her aldermanic seat in 2016 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel but has maintained her position with a wide margin in elections in 2017 and 2019. Prior to serving on the council, King worked in education as a chemistry teacher at Chicago’s Latin School and an administrator at Northwestern University and Chicago Public Schools. She also has been involved in several philanthropic organizations.
She has chaired the City Council Progressive Reform Caucus since 2020. King has used her prominent City Council role to push for the inclusion of a non-police emergency response program in Lightfoot’s 2021 “pandemic” budget. She was also a leading proponent of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) civilian police oversight ordinance, which created the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. King was also one of five Black alderwomen to introduce the proposed “Anjanette Young Ordinance” to reform the police department’s home raid protocols. As an alderman, King has presided over the “Bronzeville Lakefront” mega-development plan, which aims to build a new mixed-use campus on the former Michael Reese Hospital site, and she has touted it as an example of how community-driven developments can be more popular.
Ja'Mal Green - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Activist Ja’Mal Green is making another attempt to become top Chicago executive after he ran for mayor last cycle and failed to make the ballot. Businessman Willie Wilson, who ran in the 2019 field and has also filed for the 2023 election, got Green kicked off the ballot nearly four years ago after he challenged Green’s nominating petitions.
While Green endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 runoff election for mayor against Cook County Board Pres. Toni Preckwinkle, he’s clashed with her on issues throughout her term.
Among the most notable, Green tweeted false rumors in 2021 that the mayor was resigning though he later apologized. Soon after, however, Green crashed a news conference Lightfoot was holding to call out the mayor for allegedly “not backing his efforts to bring a youth center to Auburn Gresham” because of his involvement in the proposal, according to the Sun-Times.
Green would become the city’s youngest mayor if elected, according to WTTW. He told WTTW he was “uniquely qualified” to be mayor as someone who grew up on the South and West sides and had been kicked out of nine schools while he was growing up. “I was a troubled kid, before, but I turned my life around and became a successful businessman,” he told WTTW.
Following reporting from WBEZ and City Bureau in 2020 which showed JPMorgan Chase Bank had been significantly disproportionately investing in white neighborhoods over Black communities in Chicago, Green organized demonstrations against the bank. But his actions led to him being banned from Chase property and his account being closed over what the company deemed harassment.
Kam Buckner - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) is one of several progressive candidates looking to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Recently reelected for a second full term in the state legislature, Buckner was first appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives in early 2019 and currently chairs the Illinois House Black Caucus.
During his campaign announcement, Buckner called for an approach to public safety that incorporates justice as much as safety. As a state legislator, Buckner has sponsored successful bills to crack down on organized retail crime and ban the sale and possession of ghost guns, or guns without serial numbers. He has also filed bills to ban no-knock warrants and establish a task force on missing and murdered Chicago women.
Buckner has also put forth legislation to make the City Colleges of Chicago Board elected rather than appointed and helped lead a successful Chicago Teachers Union-backed effort to chart out an elected school board for Chicago Public Schools. Buckner is also a strong supporter of the SAFE-T Act, which he helped pass.
He has also promised to have a better relationship with the City Council than Lightfoot, saying he’d engage each alderman in conversation and give them more independence. “I think we’ve got to spend more time talking about how we put forth real City Council reform to give the 50 alderpeople the ability to do their job,” Buckner . “They do not work for the mayor; they work with the mayor.”
Buckner is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and DePaul University’s College of Law. He previously worked for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and a New Orleans mayor. Buckner grew up in the Roseland and Washington Heights neighborhoods on the South Side.
Roderick Sawyer - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) is a South Side alderman who has represented parts of Chatham, Greater Grand Crossing and Englewood for three terms. His family has a history in Chicago politics. Sawyer’s father, Eugene Sawyer, served as mayor from 1987 to 1989 afte r former Mayor Harold Washington’s sudden death in office.
The 6th Ward alderman was first elected in a narrowly won election in 2011 with just 104 more votes than incumbent Freddrenna Lyle, a Richard M. Daley-loyalist.
In his campaign launch, Sawyer said crime is the biggest issue afflicting the city, positioning his experience working as a leader on the South Side as one of his major strengths in the race. Sawyer said he would fire Police Supt. David Brown if elected. On the City Council, Sawyer has chaired the Committee on Health and Human Relations since 2019 and is a member of both the Progressive Reform Caucus, a group which he helped found in 2013, and the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, the latter of which he chaired from 2015 to 2019.
Sawyer has also promised to focus on economic development in the city, increasing access to mental health services for youth and improving schools, pledging to work alongside Chicago Public Schools leaders and the Chicago Teachers Union for solutions.
Sawyer has been a leader on police reform in the city and was a main proponent behind bringing civilian oversight to the police department. Sawyer and Ald. Harry Osterman (48) were original sponsors of an oversight proposal from the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) that eventually got folded into what is now the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. Following the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, Sawyer led the Black Caucus to call for then-Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s resignation. In 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, he spearheaded the creation of a commission to study reparations for Black Chicagoans, a group which later became a subcommittee of Health and Human Relations after pressure from Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Jesus "Chuy" Garcia - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Despite entering the race late, U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is hoping his political track record makes him the choice among the city’s progressive and Latino voting base.
It’s not Garcia’s first run for the mayor’s seat, and he mulled the decision for months before jumping into the race, telling reporters in August he “loves” being a member of Congress, but also “care[s] deeply about the city.” Garcia unsuccessfully challenged former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015, forcing the incumbent to a runoff but losing with only 43.7 percent of the vote. This time around, Garcia has said his campaign is focused on public safety, economic instability, investments in education, environmental sustainability and a concerted effort against the impacts of climate change.
Garcia served as a Chicago alderman in the 22nd Ward from 1986 to 1993 , during which he was an ally of former Mayor Harold Washington. He also served in the Illinois General Assembly and on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. In November, Garcia was reelected to a third term serving as a Democratic Congressman representing Illinois’ 4th District.
His proof of concept as a mayoral candidate? In just under three weeks, Garcia gathered reportedly more than 47,800 signatures to get on the mayoral ballot for the February election. Garcia submitted his petition signatures on the last day of candidate filing to ensure he’d appear last on the ballot.
Garcia is likely to compete for progressive votes against Ald. Sophia King (4), the chair of the City Council Progressive Reform Caucus, state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), who has backed several pieces of progressive legislation, and Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1).
Paul Vallas - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas is once again making a run to be Chicago’s top executive, and his tough-on-crime messaging appears to be resonating with voters. A recent poll conducted by pollster Jason McGrath from GBAO Strategies on behalf of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign showed Vallas’ appeal growing with respondents — in that recent poll he placed second in the horserace behind the incumbent mayor with 22 percent of the vote.
Vallas wants to rescind a policy which limits the ability of Chicago police to conduct foot pursuits, a policy passed following the death of Adam Toledo and he also supports boosting the force by bringing back retired officers to work on patrols and as detectives. In January Vallas nabbed the endorsement of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police.
Vallas, also a former city budget director, ran for mayor in 2019 but placed ninth in the race. In the runoff, Vallas endorsed Lightfoot over Cook County Board Pres. Toni Preckwinkle. Vallas ran for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor in 2002 and ran for Illinois lieutenant governor in 2014 alongside then-Gov. Pat Quinn, though neither run was successful.
Willie Wilson - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Businessman and philanthropist Willie Wilson is making his latest run for elected office, his third bid for Chicago mayor. In 2019, Wilson ran in the crowded mayoral election and finished in fourth place out of 14 candidates with 10.6 percent of the vote. Wilson finished in third place in his mayoral run in 2015, also with about 10.7 percent of the vote share.
His political history also includes campaigns for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 and a U.S. Senate run in 2020.
Wilson, the son of a Louisiana sharecropper, owned five McDonald’s franchises, started a medical supply company and produced the Emmy-winning national gospel TV show “Singsation.” According to a 2015 Sun-Times profile , “By [Wilson’s] own estimate, he gives away up to $1 million a year to churches and charities.” Wilson seeded his campaign this election cycle with $5 million of his own money.
Earlier this year, Wilson launched a series of gas and grocery giveaways, actions he said were aimed at mitigating the effects of high inflation on vulnerable populations. Though he endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 runoff, he has said Lightfoot hasn’t fostered any sort of professional relationship with him while in office.
Wilson has pointed to an increase in crime, unchecked mental health issues, lingering economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic as issues he’d be best suited to tackle as the city’s top executive. He supports lowering taxes, eliminating red light cameras and reforming parking meters.
Brandon Johnson - 2023 Mayoral Candidate
Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1) is seeking the progressive vote as he makes a bid in the crowded mayoral race. Johnson, a former social studies teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, entered the mayor’s race in late October with the backing of the CTU already in the bag. His mayoral run has also gained endorsements from at least four other labor groups — Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, American Federation of Teachers and Illinois Federation of Teachers. An avowed advocate for working families, Johnson is running for mayor on a platform that includes “fully funded public schools, affordable housing, green jobs and access to mental health care,” according to his mayoral campaign announcement.
Johnson recently won a second term on the county board. After ousting incumbent Comm. Richard Boykin in the 2018 Democratic primary, Johnson’s legislative accomplishments have included the county’s Just Housing Ordinance, which barred landlords from refusing to rent to tenants based on certain criminal records and sought to end housing discrimination for people based on some prior convictions. Johnson’s legislative accomplishments also include a controversial 2020 resolution to shift funding away from Cook County Jail and toward health care, restorative justice and job creation to address root causes of crime, though the resolution was purely symbolic.
Lori Lightfoot - 2023 Mayoral Candidate, Incumbent
Before serving as Chicago’s top executive, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was a corporate litigator and police prosecutor. Lightfoot is an Ohio native who got her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and her law degree at the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, Lightfoot first worked for the legal firm Mayer Brown for six years.
In 1996, Lightfoot became Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. In that role, Lightfoot led the investigation and prosecution of 15th Ward Ald. Virgil Jones as part of the Silver Shovel Investigation. In 2002, Lightfoot became Chief Administrator at the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards. Later, she rejoined Mayer Brown and served as outside counsel for Bank of America and worked on police-related cases.
In June 2015, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Lightfoot to head the nine-member Chicago Police Board, in the fallout over the Laquan McDonald case later that same year, Lightfoot was appointed to the Mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force. The task force eventually recommended doing away with the Independent Police Review Authority, appointing a new Deputy Inspector General to monitor the police department and creating a civilian-led oversight commission to set police department policy — the latter was accomplished during Lightfoot’s first term as mayor while the others were completed under Emanuel.
Lightfoot ran for mayor in a crowded 2019 field and made it to the runoff against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle after finishing in first place with 18 percent of the vote in the first round. In the runoff, Lightfoot trounced Preckwinkle handily, winning in all 50 of the city’s wards.
As mayor, Lightfoot has often had an abrasive relationship with the City Council and has been criticized for how she handled the city’s response to racial justice protests in 2020, such as raising bridges to protect the Loop from property damage. Some of her legislative and administrative accomplishments, however, include passing ethics reforms such as a ban on “cross-lobbying,” the legalization of Accessory Dwelling Units and an overhaul the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance and the pandemic-era “Chi Biz Strong” business recovery package.
During her 2023 reelection effort, Lightfoot’s campaign was criticized for emailing Chicago Public Schools teachers to ask if students would volunteer for the campaign in exchange for class credit. While initially saying it was a common practice, Lightfoot’s campaign later called it inappropriate and said it would not happen again, with Lightfoot herself calling it a “well intentioned” “mistake.”
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Sam Royko - Aldermanic Candidate
Sam Royko, an attorney and son of famed Chicago columnist Mike Royko, is vying against three other candidates to become the next 1st Ward alderman. Royko lives in West Town, which is on the eastern end of the 1st Ward, and decided to run for alderman while advocating for increased public safety after his girlfriend was carjacked in Wicker Park, according to his campaign website.
Royko’s girlfriend, Erin Groble, was driving his car near Division St and Ashland Ave in January 2021 when to men stormed her and stole the car, her purse and some packages in the car. Two months after the carjacking, Royko received a $100 speeding ticket, thanks to the thieves who stole his car.
He went on to found the Greater West Town Community Coalition to address the carjacking problem, where his work focused on improving public safety. Royko’s group joined a slew of other organizations in demanding more transparency and collaboration from lawmakers to hinder carjacking and violent crime in an open letter sent to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and all 50 aldermen.
Outside of his advocacy work, Royko works as a partner at L&G Law Group. Prior to joining the L&G Group, Royko was a founder and managing partner at The Royko Group. In his legal practices, Royko has represented clients in complex litigation, class action suits, employment and entertainment.
Andy Schneider - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Andy Schneider isn’t new to the Chicago political scene considering he’s served as the president of Logan Square Preservation, a neighborhood organization dedicated to the preservation and beautification of Logan Square, for just over decade.
However, Schneider has spent a majority of his professional career in journalism. He spent some time with the Sun-Times Media Group as a reporter and later went on to work as an editor at Screen Magazine. a niche Chicago film publication.
As LSP’s president, Schneider worked on numerous significant Logan Square development projects over the course of his tenure, including the redesign of the notoriously confusing traffic circle and, more recently, the opening of a food truck plaza on Sacramento Ave.
Proco "Joe" Moreno - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Proco “Joe” Moreno is vying to get his 1st Ward aldermanic seat back after falling to current 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata in 2019. Moreno served as 1st Ward alderman from his appointment in 2010 through 2019.
Moreno has faced legal issues in the past few years including in 2020 when he was charged with two counts of driving under the influence, one count of reckless driving and five counts of failing to report damage to an unattended vehicle after he crashed into multiple cars in the Gold Coast.
In 2021, Moreno pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct for reporting that his car had been stolen when he had actually allowed a woman he was dating to borrow the car, and in 2018, Moreno was accused of impersonating a police officer in an attempt to get a woman to move her parked car.
Daniel La Spata - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1), who first took office in 2019 after netting more than 61 percent of the vote, ousting embattled former Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno. La Spata has a long track record of organizing on the Northwest Side. Considered a linchpin of Logan Square. Previously, La Spata has campaigned with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, worked as a planning associate with the Friends of the Parks and served as a policy intern with the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
La Spata is a member of the City Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus, Democratic Socialist Caucus and Latino Caucus. Prior to taking elected office, La Spata was a longtime Logan Square housing organizer and has proven to be a tried-and-true socialist, generally voting in lock-step with his fellow Democratic Socialist caucus members and working to stem gentrification. T
hroughout his first term, La Spata has worked with neighboring Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) on a series of anti-gentrification legislative initiatives, including a pair of ordinances designed to slow demolitions and two-flat deconversions near the 606 Bloomingdale Trail.
In the past year, La Spata advocated for the passage of the “Water for All” proposal he introduced that aimed to provide more accessible and affordable water delivery. The measure ultimately was not approved. La Spata has also stood firm in his opposition to a proposal from Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) to legalize private booting of cars citywide.
Brian Hopkins - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2015
Though he was elected to the Chicago City Council in 2015, Brian Hopkins has been working in politics virtually his entire career. Prior to his election to the City Council, Hopking served for two decades as Cook County Commissioner John Daly’s chief of staff.
Hopkins made the run for alderman in 2015 after the 2nd ward was heavily redistricted in 2012 to oust then-alderman Robert Fioretti. He won the crowded race, defeating his runoff candidate with 56 percent of the vote. Hopkins’ time as alderman for the 2nd ward has been defined by his pro-business and development stances. He approved the controversial Lincoln Yards plan, even as many of his critics and colleagues likened the project to corporate welfare. After he was reelected in 2019 unopposed despite resistance due to the Lincoln Yards project, he successfully blocked the Zoning Board of Appeals from allowing a marijuana dispensary to open in the Gold Coast.
Hopkins hasn’t been shy to criticize Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He spoke out heavily against her plan to open a casino at the Tribune Publishing site along the Chicago River and said he was “disappointed but not surprised,” of the mayor’s approval of the project. He also spoke out against Lightfoot’s plan to host a NASCAR race in the city, and said the mayor failed to consult any of the aldermen representing the downtown area where the race would take place.
Pat Dowell - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2007
Twitter: @ILforDowell
Campaign Site: https://www.illinoisfordowell.com
Bio: Pat Dowell has a long history in Chicago politics, first as a student volunteer for Dorothy Tillman, who she would later face in an election, and later as a Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Planning through the administrations of mayors Eugene Sawyer and Richard M. Daley. Tillman made way for Dowell’s win in the 2007 election when she voted against Labor on the ordinance that raised the minimum wage for big-box stores in Chicago. Labor then decided it could no longer support Tillman, and threw its money and endorsements behind Dowell. She defeated Tillman in a run-off election and has been serving in the City Council ever since. Dowell has maintained her vehemence in planning and development, as she helped launch the Parade of Houses project to construct market-rate single-family homes on vacant lots throughout the 3rd Ward. Though Dowell has been a close ally of Lightfoot, she hasn’t been shy to criticize the mayor. She hesitantly supported Lightfoot’s “Connected Communities Ordinance,” which proposes developments in the city’s transit hubs, and called the ordinance “nothing if we aren’t going to put some meat on the bones.”
Helen West - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Helen West is a retired educator, cancer survivor, coronavirus survivor and former art gallery owner. West has served on the Board of Directors of Muntu Dance Company, Mid-South Planning and Development and the South Side Community Art Center. West and her boyfriend both got sick with COVID-19 in 2020; while her boyfriend died, West enrolled in a remdesivir trial — she credited the drug with contributing to her recovery from the disease.
Ebony Lucas - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ebony Lucas is a real estate attorney who is making her third run for the aldermanic seat in the 4th Ward. Lucas unsuccessfully challenged Ald. Sophia King in 2017 and 2019. Lucas, who is the managing partner for a firm called The Property Law Group, told the Hyde Park Herald in September that her campaign is focused on affordable housing and local commercial development.
Some of her past experience includes serving on the King College Prep Local School Council and serving as president of Mandrake Park Advisory Council, according to a biography on The Property Law Group’s website .
Lucas is currently the board secretary for the South Side Community Investor Association, and she attended University of Michigan Law School.
Tracey Bey - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Tracey Bey is making her second run for 4th Ward alderman after challenging former Ald. Will Burns in 2015. This cycle, her nominating petitions are being challenged, putting her status on the ballot in jeopardy.
Matthew "Khari" Humphries - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Khari Humphries, senior director of youth policy in the Mayor’s Office of Education and Human Services, is aiming to leave the Lightfoot administration to lead the 4th Ward as current Ald. Sophia King mounts a challenge against the sitting mayor.
Humphries was appointed to the youth policy post by the mayor in the spring of 2022, with the office recognizing his 25 years of community relations and nonprofit work on behalf of youth. Humphries earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Xavier University and was a 2018 Fellow of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Civic Leadership Academy, according to the Chicago Mayor’s Office.
His previous experience includes serving as director of the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, serving as executive director of school age strategies for Thrive Chicago and serving as senior manager of community life for The Community Builders, Inc. in Bronzeville.
Lamont Robinson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
State Rep. Lamont Robinson Jr. (D-Chicago) has served two terms in the Illinois General Assembly and became the first openly LGBTQ African American elected to the state legislature in 2018. He was reelected to a third term in the House in 2022. Robinson has a degree in business marketing from Clark Atlanta University and an MBA from National Louis University.
The legislator has been an insurance agent and owns an Allstate insurance branch, worked as a business professor at Harold Washington College and worked as director of the Kappa Leadership Institute in Chicago. Robinson nabbed the endorsement of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who lives in the 4th Ward and who said “Lamont works hard and has the vision and experience to lead the Fourth Ward forward.”
Prentice Butler - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
As outgoing Ald. Sophia King’s chief of staff, Prentice Butler is pitching his experience working for an existing alderman as the main argument for why 4th Ward residents should choose him to succeed King. His website says his work with King “has demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of city government, social media, and community engagement, which has expanded the outreach of the Alderman’s agenda and accomplishments.”
Butler attended the University of Chicago — where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and later a master’s in public policy from the Harris School of Public Policy — and Loyola Chicago, where he earned a master’s in Urban Life Learning: Chicago Studies. Butler worked for the Law Office of Ernesto Borges, a bankruptcy firm, to provide financial consultations, including to low- and middle-income customers.
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Gabriel Piemonte - Aldermanic Candidate
Gabriel Piemonte is a Woodlawn resident and longtime journalist and community organizer. He worked as an editor for the Highland Park Herald and a communications consultant and has made strides in community organizing in the 5th Ward, where he resides. He aided in building a credit union in the South Side for borrowers who’ve often been turned away and helped to create a program for area teenagers to get paid to learn videography and critical thinking skills.
Jocelyn Hare - Aldermanic Candidate
Jocelyn Hare is mounting another run for the 5th Ward aldermanic seat after coming in fourth out of six candidates in the 2015 municipal election. Hare is a senior assistant director of Harris Policy Labs at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, a role in which she researches and implements urban policies in different cities alongside students and clients. Hare is a a former board member of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance and currently serves on the board of Chicago’s Pride Action Tank, according to a biographical page on the UChicago site. According to the Chicago Reader , Hare was formerly a fellow in the office of Gary, Indiana Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson where she was a policy consultant.
Kris Levy - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Kris Levy is a South Shore wine and spirits distributor, according to a profile in the Hyde Park Herald in which he also talked about economic development and increased funding for local schools as methods by which to improve public safety. Levy has an industrial engineering degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to the Herald.
Marlene Fisher - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Marlene Fisher has been a senior administrator at the University of Chicago since 2016, according to her LinkedIn page. Fisher has campaign pages and social media which are inactive, but according to Block Club Chicago she ran a garden in Greater Grand Crossing.
Renita Ward - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Renita Ward is a practicing attorney who got her law degree from DePaul University. She was formerly a law clerk under Presiding Judge Leroy K. Martin, Jr. in the Criminal Division of the Cook County Circuit Court. Ward is also an associate minister at a local church and volunteers at Trinity United Church of Christ Legal Clinic.
Ward’s work in the community also includes serving on the Chicago Police Department’s CAPS Faith Based Subcommittee in District 2.
Joshua Gray - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Joshua Gray managed the 2019 mayoral campaign of Amara Enyia and in August 2022 was found liable, along with Enyia and three others, for unpaid wages to two dozen campaign employees, according to the Hyde Park Herald. Gray is a political consultant who has previously worked as an aide for Ald. David Moore (17) and as an anti-violence community organizer for the Rev. Michael Pfleger, according to the Herald.
It’s not his first run for political office. In 2018 Gray ran for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in the Democratic Party primary in District 3 following the retirement of Comm. Jerry Butler and finished in fourth place out of seven candidates.
Robert Palmer - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Robert Palmer is a high school teacher seeking the open aldermanic seat in the 5th Ward. Palmer ran in the June 2022 Democratic Party primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in Illinois’ 1st Congressional District but finished 11th out of 17 candidates.
Wallace Goode Jr. - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Wallace E. Goode, Jr. led the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce for more than a decade, increasing its membership from 187 to 311 during his leadership, the Hyde Park Herald reported .
Goode has a bachelor's degree from Elmhurst University, a master's degree in education from the University of Vermont and served in the Peace Corps.
According to Goode’s campaign website, he was a special assistant to former Mayor Richard M. Daley, assistant commissioner for Workforce Development and executive director of Chicago’s Empowerment Zone.
Martina Hone - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Tina Hone was born in Hyde Park, raised in Roseland and graduated from the University of Chicago, according to her campaign website. Hone became chief engagement officer for the City of Chicago in 2020 but stepped down in 2022 to pursue aldermanic office. She moved back to Chicago in 2016, according to her site, after spending 20 years working in the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Hone worked “in the House Judiciary Committee (with a focus on immigration policy), the Commerce Department (specifically the 2000 census) and the American Legacy Foundation, an anti-tobacco use organization,” according to the Hyde Park Herald.
Hone has previous experience in political office. She served on the Fairfax County School Board in Virginia.
Desmon Yancy - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Labor and community organizer Desmon Yancy serves as the director of community organizing for the Inner-City Muslim Action Network . Yancy was among lead organizers with the Grassroots Association for Police Accountability, an organization which pushed for the creation of a civilian oversight agency for the Chicago Police Department. In 2021, the City Council passed an ordinance creating a civilian-led commission.
Dialika Perkins - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Dee Perkins is a professional boxer who earned a bachelor’s of business administration in accountancy at Loyola Chicago before she went on to work in taxation. Later she became a corporate tax auditor in government and audited Fortune 500 companies, according to her campaign site. Her campaign is focused on resident-owned businesses, mitigating rising rents and reducing carbon emissions.
Barbara A. Bunville - Aldermanic Candidate
Barbara Bunville served in the Chicago Police Department for over two decades, first as a police officer and later as the organization’s communications director. According to her campaign website, Bunville has a doctorate in instructional leadership and a master’s degree in forensic psychology. She is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Sharon Pincham - Aldermanic Candidate
Sharon Pincham’s career includes working as district office director and constituent services coordinator for State Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), according to her LinkedIn. Pincham has also been a realtor and real estate broker, plus worked as a tax preparer. Her career also includes work as assistant bureau chief in the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Rehab Services, according to her Facebook.
Patrick Brutus - Aldermanic Candidate
Patrick Brutus has nearly three decades of experience in public service. He started his career with the Illinois Department of Transportation, where he aided in organizing development projects. He went on to work in Chicago with the city’s Department of Planning and Development, where he’s worked for the past 16 years.
Some of his work for the city included the coordination and development of 12 business improvement districts throughout Chicago. He also aided in the development and preservation of affordable housing, which he said he’d continue if election alderman in his campaign announcement video.
Sylvester Baker Jr - Aldermanic Candidate
Candidate profile pending. Little to no public information available.
Richard Wooten - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Richard Wooten is making his latest run for the 6th Ward aldermanic seat after unsuccessful runs in 2019, 2015 and 2011.
Wooten has also run twice as a Democrat in Illinois House of Representatives District 34. He claimed second place in the Democratic primary in 2012 and announced a primary run in 2014 against the incumbent, former Rep. Elgie Sims Jr. but withdrew before the primary took place.
Wooten is pastor at Gathering Point Universal Ministries, a retired Chicago Police officer and serves as a Community Advisory Council member for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Kirby Birgans - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Kirby Birgans is a charter high school teacher who also ran in the U.S. House race in Illinois’ 1st District in 2022 to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush but lost in the Democratic primary.
William Hall - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
William Hall is the pastor at St. James Community Church in Chatham, and his run for 6th Ward alderman has the endorsement of United Working Families.
Hall has worked as the National Field Coordinator for Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. and the Rainbow Push Coalition and in 2011 founded the Acts of Love Global Foundation, an organization dedicated to human rights and social services which helps to provide resources to kids in poor communities across the U.S. and globe. Hall was educated at DePaul University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in religious studies, according to his biography on the St. James website.
He received a master’s in divinity at McCormick Theological Seminary and is currently a Doctor of Ministry candidate in African-Centered Religious Thought and Ministry under the deanship of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, according to the website.
Paul Bryson Sr. - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Paul Bryson Sr. is an aide to Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) and has owned a kitchen and bath remodeling business for two decades, according to his campaign website. In 2011, he served as campaign manager for Sawyer, who is vacating the 6th Ward seat to run for Chicago mayor.
Bryson served as the superintendent of streets and sanitation for the ward for about eight years before becoming an aldermanic assistant for the 6th, the role he currently holds.
One of his major promises as an aldermanic candidate is to improve timeliness when responding to constituent issues.
Sharon Pincham - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Sharon Pincham’s career includes working as district office director and constituent services coordinator for State Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), according to her LinkedIn. Pincham has also been a realtor and real estate broker, plus worked as a tax preparer. Her career also includes work as assistant bureau chief in the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Rehab Services, according to her Facebook .
Tavares Briggs - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Tavares Briggs chairs the fundraising committee for the Metropolitan Board of the Chicago Urban League.
Aja Kearney - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Aja Kearney has worked for the local Democratic Party and its officials at multiple levels and is now seeking to hold elected office herself. Kearney was a district director for State Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr. and in 2022 assisted the political campaign of incoming Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. Kearney also spent time working for Cook County Government, including working as an assistant in the Office of the Board President for three years, according to her LinkedIn page.
According to her campaign website, Kearney’s passion for politics stems from time she spent at an early age with her mother, who was an assistant to former Ald. Lorraine Dixon. Kearney attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated from the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership in 2006.
Greg Mitchell - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Ald. Greg Mitchell (7) is a former financial analyst and has served on the City Council since 2015, when he defeated incumbent Ald. Natashia Holmes.
Though he has kept a fairly low profile on the council and largely avoided the press and public statements, he has sided with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on recent proposals such as the seizure of the assets of gang members and the expansion of a curfew for city youth, according to the Reader.
Mitchell initially faced two challengers for his seat this cycle, but he is now running unopposed after both candidates, Jocilyn Floyd and Anthony “Tony” Blair, were removed from the ballot.
Sean Flynn - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Raised in Chicago, Sean Flynn’s journey to public service hasn’t necessarily been a straight line. He worked odd jobs for a while before getting his barber’s license and then worked as a barber for eight years. Flynn then returned to school, first at Olive Harvey City College and then at the University of Illinois in Chicago, where he received his master’s degree.
He later went on to work in city government, first for Ald. David Moore and later for Ald. Leslie Hairston. Flynn’s campaign has been focused on crime reduction, specifically through addressing “concerns around mental health and invest[ing] in more mentoring and community programs to better combat the issues at hand,” according to his campaign website.
He said the ward needs a pair of fresh eyes and that he will offer a new perspective on the problems and potentials for development and beautification. “Ald. Harris did the best she could with what she had,” Flynn said in an interview with Block Club Chicago. “However, this is a different age we’re living in. You need new solutions to solve these complex problems. Doing it the same old way that’s been done is not going to get it done.”
Michelle Harris - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Michelle Harris first came to the City Council in 2006 when she was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to fill Todd Stroger's aldermanic seat after he was elected Cook County Board President. As current chair of the City Council’s Committee on Committees and Rules — one of the three most powerful committees — Harris plays a prominent role in council politics as the rules committee oversees the operations of Council, appointments to its committees and the referral of legislation to committees. As rules committee chair, Harris is also empowered to hire the City Council Sergeant of Arms and its security staff.
Perhaps most notably in her role as rules committee chair, Harris oversaw the decennial ward remapping process that played out over a tense several months, finally ending in May 2022 with an 11th hour map compromise between members of the Latino Caucus and another group of members of the Black Caucus and several white aldermen. The tumultuous road to the final map deal came more than five months after aldermen missed a critical Dec. 1 deadline to vote on a new ward map and included several furious rounds of negotiations between the two aldermanic camps.
After she was appointed to the 8th Ward seat, Harris won reelection in 2007 with a solid majority against a crowded field of seven challengers. She has yet to face a serious challenger in subsequent reelections. Harris was considered a serious contender for former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s vacated position of chair of the state Democratic party, but she narrowly lost to U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly in a hotly contested struggle. Shortly after that, Harris took over as Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s floor leader in City Hall and continues to serve in the position.
Linda Hudson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Linda Hudson unsuccessfully ran for alderman in the 8th Ward in 2019 and also ran unsuccessfully for 8th Ward Democratic Committeeman in 2016. She was also one of the lead organizers of the campaign to get the Cook County Board of Commissioners to repeal the county’s sugary beverage tax, the “Can the Tax” Campaign. Hudson is the founder and president of the Eighth Ward Accountability Coalition and former president of the Avalon Park Advisory Council.
Anthony Beale - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Elected: 1999
A south side native, Anthony Beale joined the City Council as one of the youngest elected officials in 1999, successfully unseating the deep Shaw family political dynasty. Beale ran his first election on a campaign of reforming the ward, and has handily won five re-elections since.
His time as alderman has been defined by his goal to drive business growth in the economically struggling ward. He called the flow of new development into his ward a “renaissance,” with the spike of development in the new Pullman Historic District.
Beale worked closely with David Doig and the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives when they partnered with Ryan Companies to construct the sprawling Pullman Crossings development, a massive industrial project along 1-94 that could host businesses like Whole Foods distribution centers.
Though Beale was close allies to former mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel, he has been one of Mayor Lori Lighfoot’s chief critics.
Cleopatra Draper - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Cleopatra Draper is a Chicago-area radio personality who has hosted a show on WVON 1690 AM, who earned a communications degree from Eastern Illinois University as an undergraduate and who later obtained a master’s in social work from University of Illinois at Chicago. Draper is endorsed by United Working Families Illinois. Draper founded a nonprofit during the pandemic called Roses in Roseland which distributes essential household goods to residents and groceries to food pantries and senior homes.
Cameron Barnes - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Cameron Barnes, a former National Youth Director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, says on his website he’s passionate about activism. Barnes earned a marketing degree from Central State University and serves as an associate minister at New Faith Missionary Baptist Church. Barnes also works as a resident services coordinator for Capital Realty Group, according to his LinkedIn.
Oscar Sanchez - 2022 Aldermanic Candidates
A longtime environmental activist and lifelong Southeast resident, Oscar Sanchez made headlines in 2021 when he joined a group of Southeast siders in a hunger strike against Southside Recycling’s (then General Iron) proposed metal scrapping facility in his neighborhood. Sanchez launched his campaign on platform of “clean air, equitable education, walkable and accessible communities, affordable housing, sustainable and resilient workforce development and collective community safety,” he said in an interview with Block Club Chicago.
Ana Guajardo - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Ana Guajardo is the daughter of undocumented immigrants and co-founded the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, an immigrant worker advocacy group, according to reporting from Block Club Chicago. Guajardo, running to replace retiring Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), has praised the outgoing alderman’s advocacy for working families. Guajardo secured the endorsement of mayoral candidate U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Jessica Venegas - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jessica Venegas is a police officer in Chicago and also works as a private practice attorney specializing in family law, immigration and real estate. Venegas founded a nonprofit called Tia and Gramma Organization which assists families and youth who lack resources.
Peter Chico - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Peter Chico is a Chicago Police officer currently serving in the 4th District, according to his campaign website. He is also a community representative on George Washington High School’s local school council.
Yessenia Carreon - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Yessenia Carreón campaigned in 2019 to be 10th Ward alderman but a challenge to her nominating petitions got her kicked off the ballot. Carreón worked as a staffer in former 10th Ward Ald. John Pope’s office. She has also served on boards such as the Metropolitan Family Services Board, South Chicago Artist Coalition and South Chicago boards focused on seniors, health and housing. Carreón has worked to help put on summer festivals as chief operating officer of media company ONT.
Ambria Taylor - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Public school teacher Ambria Taylor is a Chicago Teachers Union member and Democratic Socialist running for 11th Ward alderman. Taylor has lived in Bridgeport since 2012, according to her campaign website. In the fall of 2022, Taylor organized a community bike ride to promote awareness about Chicago’s pedestrian and bike infrastructure and public transit
Julia Ramirez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Julia Ramirez works for Chicago Public Schools as a re-engagement specialist. Ramirez has been a community organizer and earned a master’s degree in social work from Northeastern Illinois University, according to a short biography provided by United Working Families, which has endorsed Ramirez in the 12th Ward race.
Anabel Abarca - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Anabel Abarca was sworn in as alderman of the 12th Ward during the City Council’s December meeting. Abarca filled the City Council seat left vacant by former 12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas.A child of working-class immigrants, Abarca grew up in Belmont Cragin and worked as a real estate attorney before working under former 12th ward Ald. George Cardenas as his chief of staff from 2013 to 2016 before attending law school.
Paul Bruton -2023 Municipal Election
A lifelong Chicago resident, Paul Bruton got his start in public service working for I-GO Car Sharing, a Chicagoland non-profit dedicated to car-sharing to protect the environment and curb high transportation costs. He then went on to get his public policy master’s degree at Northwestern University before working for the Chicago Inspector General’s Office. He said in his campaign bio that his work in the community in the Inspector General’s office made him realize “how often city workers were expected to get the job done without the right tools, technology, and training that they needed to effectively do their work.” He left the office in 2018 to raise his two children but decided to throw his hat in for the 13th ward “to fight Chicago’s legacy of corruption,” he wrote in his campaign bio.
Marty Quinn - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Ald. Marty Quinn (13) has served as alderman since 2011 and served as an aide to indicted former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. Quinn handily won reelection in 2019 against his opponent David Krupa with 86 percent of the vote, though Krupa filed a civil rights lawsuit against Quinn and Madigan ahead of the election, accusing them of trying to strong-arm him off the ballot. Krupa filed a defamation suit against Quinn and the Chicago Teachers Union as well.
In 2020, former Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson accused Quinn of putting his and Madigan’s names on an instrument meant to blast graffiti, which Ferguson called a “prohibited political activity.”
Jeylu Gutièrrez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jeylu Gutierrez is a Mexican immigrant who resides in Brighton Park and works as the district director for Cook County Comm. Alma Anaya (D-7), who has also endorsed her run for 14th Ward alderman. Gutierrez is one of two candidates running in the 14th Ward race to replace Ald. Ed Burke (14) who will not run for reelection after more than 50 years on the City Council. Gutierrez, who also serves on St. Bruno Catholic School’s school board, has secured the endorsements of mayoral candidate U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Illinois) and state Rep. Aaron Ortiz (D-Chicago). Gutierrez previously worked as a community liaison, student advocate and assistant counselor for Chicago Public Schools, according to her website.
Rayl Reyes - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Raul Reyes has been a “one-time … political operative” for outgoing Ald. Ed Burke (14), . After more than 50 years on the City Council, Burke is not running for reelection. Burke was indicted in 2019 on 14 counts including bribery, attempted extortion and racketeering. Reyes ran for City Council in 2015 in the 15th Ward and placed fourth out of six candidates, garnering 7.1 percent of the vote. Reyes currently works as a staff assistant in the Chicago City Clerk’s Office
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.
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.
Stephanie Coleman - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16) is seeking a second term after unseating progressive Ald. Toni Foulkes in 2019, her second run for the post after she lost to Foulkes in the 2015 municipal runoffs. Coleman, a former aide to Cook County Comm. Dennis Deer (D-2), is the daughter of former 16th Ward Ald. Shirley Coleman. The younger Coleman made a name for herself politically by chartering the ward’s Young Democrats and registering over 1,200 new voters as 16th Ward Democratic Committeeperson, a post she’s held since 2016. On City Council Coleman was chosen in 2020 to chair the Committee on Health and Human Relations’ Subcommittee on Reparations by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), who’s currently seeking the mayorship.
Carolyn Denise Crump - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Carolynn Crump has served as a Chicago Police officer for 24 years and is the third in her family to serve in law enforcement, according to Block Club Chicago. Crump ran in the Democratic primary for the Illinois House of Representatives District 6 in 2022 but lost to incumbent Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago). Crump earned a master’s degrees in business management and fraud and examination management at Saint Xavier University, according to her campaign website.
Eddie Johnson Jr. - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Eddie Johnson III is an Englewood community organizer seeking the 16th Ward aldermanic seat following an unsuccessful run in 2019. Johnson is the executive director of the Antioch Community Social Service Agency, the nonprofit division of Antioch Missionary Baptist, an Englewood church destroyed by a fire in April 2022. In 2019, Johnson told the Sun-Times he had been involved in organizing against the closure of four Englewood high schools and served on the Chicago Public Schools steering committee for the then-new Englewood STEM High School.
Heather Wills - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Heather Wills has worked in community organizing for over two decades, according to her campaign website. Her professional background began as a Senior Customer Service representative for Marquette Bank, then as a Senior Disability Representative for Sedgwick Claims Management Services and most recently as a Campaign Organizer for the Service Employees International Union Healthcare. Wills also founded POW3R, a Chicago-based non-profit dedicated to empowering and educating the inner-city kids through positive programming. The organization has held a slew of expos and workshops, focused on teaching participants “self-love, self-care and self-expression.” Wills said on her campaign site that she decided to join the race based on the belief that “all communities should have: developing residentia and commercial infrastructure, advancing community resources for all and community engaged public safety.”
Derick Curtis - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) has represented the 18th Ward on the City Council since 2015 and since 2012, Curtis has served as the 18th Ward Democratic Committeeman following his service as Ward Streets and Sanitation Superintendent. Curtis, who is a concealed-carry firearm license instructor, has been involved in two accidental shootings in the last several months — one in which he was injured and another in which his daughter was injured.
In January 2023, Curtis told the Sun-Times he was “having second thoughts about his support for Mayor Lori Lightfoot — and his role as her “No. 1 cheerleader” — because of the mayor’s ‘coldness,’ including her failure to reach out to him after he accidentally shot himself.” Before serving as alderman, Curtis was a local school council member, little league coach and was known for being active in his neighborhood.
Timothy Noonan - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Tim Noonan serves on the local school council at Kellogg Elementary School and in 2016 was part of a group that opposed an effort authored by Ald. Matthew O’Shea (19) to close Kellogg and merge the institution with Sutherland Elementary School, a plan that would have also required Keller Regional Gifted Center to move into the Kellogg building and Mt. Greenwood Elementary to expand into the Keller building to address overcrowding. The plan did not come to fruition. Noonan was behind a 19th Ward mutual aid organization during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and about five years ago collaborated with the Beverly Area Planning Association to help fund a project to restore a monument to Gold Star Families in the Dan Ryan Woods.
Michael Cummings - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Michael Cummings is a retired Chicago Police officer who retired in 2021 after 35 years of service. In 2014, Cummings was investigated by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs over allegations he made a racist comment that year at a bar housed in a property he owned.
Though “the allegations that then-CPD officer Mike Cummings made a racist comment at McNally’s bar ... were not sustained,” according to the Beverly Review, he was suspended for 90 days for violating a rule that prohibits CPD employees from “engaging directly or indirectly in the ownership, maintenance or operation of a tavern or retail liquor establishment.”
Cummings earned a degree in business from St. Xavier University, according to his website.
Matt O'Shea - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate, Incumbent
Ald. Matthew O'Shea (19) was an aide to former 19th Ward Ald. Virginia Rugai and has served in the City Council since 2011. O’Shea supported Jerry Joyce in the early stages of the 2019 mayoral election but supported now-Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 runoff over Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, alongside other pro-police leaders who believed Lightfoot’s law enforcement background would make her tenure more attentive to the needs of first responders.
But O'Shea publicly slammed Lightfoot after the July 2021 murder of Officer Ella French, saying officers felt like city leaders “do not have their backs.” Many of the constituents in the 19th ward are city employees.
Jennifer Maddox - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jennifer Maddox is making her second run for alderman of the 20th Ward after finishing in seventh place in the 2019 contest. Maddox is a retired Chicago Police officer who founded a nonprofit after-school and summer program called Future Ties which aims to tackle the root causes of violence and assist children affected by violence.
Jeanette Taylor - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20) was first elected in 2019, defeating eight other candidates to fill the 20th Ward City Council seat that had been vacant since former Ald. Willie Cochran resigned amid bribery and extortion charges. Taylor’s 2019 campaign centered on commitments to fight gentrification caused by the University of Chicago and the Obama Presidential Center and a promise to fight for an elected school board.
Taylor brought with her vast organizing experience as she had been involved in community organizing since she was 19 years old, first as a member of Mollison Elementary’s Local School Council. Taylor later organized with People United for Action and the United Working Families Party and participated in the 2015 Dyett High School Hunger Strike.
Andre Smith - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Andre Smith is making his fourth run for the 20th Ward aldermanic seat. In his last campaign in 2019, Smith finished in fifth place. Smith is a pastor and entrepreneur who founded the group Chicago Against Violence, In 2018, Smith’s campaign faced accusations of trying to buy petition signatures by offering people free turkeys for Thanksgiving and rumors existed about his campaign volunteers “bullying voters,” according to the Reader. But, the Reader further reported, Smith has been popular in his ward by taking on the jobs typically expected of the alderman’s office when service has been lacking, such as addressing potholes, organizing toy drives or interceding on residents’ behalf to contact ward staff.
Ronnie Mosley - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Community activist Ronnie Mosley entered the race as a clear favorite, with the Chicago Defender reporting outgoing Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21) had endorsed Mosley the day of his campaign announcement.
The Defender reported Mosley has also secured endorsements from St. Sabina’s Father Michael Pfleger, Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Cook County Comm. Stanley Moore (D-4), state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, state Rep. Justin Slaughter and Greater Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Comm. Chakena Perry.
Mosley’s advocacy work includes gun violence prevention, cannabis legalization, education reform and voting rights.
Larry Lloyd - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Attorney Larry Lloyd owns a legal practice with his wife called The Lloyd Law Firm LLC, which has offices in Illinois and Wisconsin. Lloyd lives in Washington Heights with his wife and children.
Preston Brown Jr. - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Preston Brown Jr. is a private practice attorney accredited with the Veterans Administration and the elected Democratic Committeeman of the 34th Ward. Before redistricting, Brown ran for alderman in what was then the 34th Ward in 2019. According to his campaign website, Brown also serves on the Local School Council at Percy L. Julian High School.
Daliah Goree - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Daliah Goree is a Chicago Police officer who has served on the force for 24 years, according to her campaign website. Goree has been involved with several 501c3 nonprofits and was previously sergeant-at-arms for Morgan Park High School.
Ayana Clark - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Ayana Clark works as a community advocate for the retiring U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who represents Illinois’ 1st District, and is an alumnus of the Obama Foundation Community Leadership Corp and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. Clark earned a master’s degree in communications from Purdue University Northwest and works with the organizations Project H.O.O.D. and Hustle Mommies — the latter of which she serves as an advisory board member.
Kweli Kwaza - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Kweli Kwaza is founder and executive director of the Talented 10th College Prep and CareerMentoring organization. Kwaza obtained a political science degree from Northern Illinois University and serves on the NIU Black Alumni Council. Kwaza also founded the 21st Ward Block Club Network and the Young Inventors Program for 4th to 8th-graders. Kwaza also studied at the University of Chicago and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Community Psychology at National Louis University, according to his website.
Michael Rodriguez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
A lifelong Little Village resident, Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22) jumped into the Chicago political scene through his work with community organizations like local nonprofit Enlace Chicago, where he served as executive director. In 2012, former President Barack Obama named Rodriguez one of 12 ‘Champions of Change’ in Youth Violence Prevention for his work with the nonprofit. Beyond his work in the nonprofit sphere, Rodriguez also worked as the executive officer at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, where he oversaw legislation, budget and human resources.
He’s built his campaign around standing up for working families and protecting the environment. After Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ botched demolition of the Crawford Coal Plant in April 2020, Rodriguez proposed an ordinance that would prevent so-called “bad actors” and developers whose projects have negative impacts on citizens’ health from collecting property tax incentives. The City Council passed the measure unanimously.
Rodriguez has since passed a measure calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to release the full watchdog report on the botched 2020 demolition. The measure is non-binding, but he has spearheaded the calls for Lightfoot’s administration to release the full findings.
Neftalie Gonzalez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Neftalie Gonzalez is a former Chicago Police officer who in 2017 founded the nonprofit “Opportunity-Oportunidad,” which is focused on mentorship and employment placement assistance. Gonzalez is also the owner of the Mundo Musical event venue, according to a candidate questionnaire published by WTTW during his 2019 run for the 22nd Ward.
Kristian Armendariz - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Little Village Community Council youth organizer Kristian Armendariz has previously worked as a civil engineer for Habitat for Humanity Chicago. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in construction management. Armendariz helped start a group called Mothers & Families United For Justice, which supports people who have lost loved ones to gun violence, according to his campaign website.
Silvana Tabares - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23) first joined the Chicago City Council in 2018 when she was appointed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Tabares won reelection in 2019 with a $500,000 war chest. During her first run for reelection, Tabares had the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union and throughout her time in office has emphasized the importance of involving Chicago Public Schools’ undocumented and immigrant parents in elections for a representative school board.
Tabares is one of several staunch pro-law enforcement aldermen, regularly introducing legislation to bolster resources and support for members of the Chicago Police Department. Tabares is a member of the City Council Latino Caucus, of which she serves in the role as vice chair.
The 23rd Ward alderman has used her position on the caucus to urge city officials to open additional employment and contracting opportunities to Chicago’s Latino population. During the fall of 2021, Tabares led an unsuccessful charge in the City Council to challenge the city's COVID-19 vaccination requirements for city employees. Mayor Lori Lightfoot rebuked Tabares’ campaign saying the aldermen was "carrying water" for the Fraternal Order of Police and its resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.
Eddie Guillen - 2023 Aldermanic Candidates
Eddie Guillen is former Chief of Staff to state Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar (D-Chicago) of the 22nd District. A West Lawn resident, Guillen serves on Eberhart Elementary’s Local School Council as well as the board of the Children's Museum of Oak Lawn and on the Envision Community Services Events Committee, according to his campaign website. Guillen owns and operates an event lighting company which he founded and was among winners of NBC Chicago’s “Making A Difference” awards in 2020.
Drew Goldsmith - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A former marine and lieutenant firefighter for over two decades, Drewone Goldsmith was one of 19 applicants to venture for the 43rd Ward seat when former Ald. Michael Scott resigned in June.
Goldsmith is a lifelong Lawndale resident and founded Chicago’s Classic Car Show, which has been held annually in the neighborhood since 2008. According to his campaign website, Goldsmith’s objectives as alderman would be: “uniting and protecting our seniors, promoting community investment, encouraging the Ward to work alongside law enforcement to combat our current crime issues, attract business and residential development, Involving our youth in correcting the wrongs that plague our community, and stabilizing the Ward by continuing to work on its infrastructure.”
Luther Woodruff - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A longtime employee of Chicago’s Streets & Sanitation Department, Luther Woodruff announced his campaign for the 24th Ward seat under a platform of restoring hope, rebuilding the community and reconnecting our neighborhoods, according to his campaign website. Part of this plan includes investing in the area's businesses to ensure they stay in the ward. He’s lived on the same block of Douglas Park his entire life, and said on Instagram that he’s dedicated to serving the community and he sees himself and his family as “pillars of positivity in the neighborhood.”
Monique Scott - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
As Mayor Lori Lightfoot's second hand picked nominee to fill an aldermanic vacancy, now-Ald. Monique Scott (24) replaced her brother Michael Scott as the 24th Ward alderman in June 2022. Scott previously worked as a health consultant for North Lawndale Christian Health Center and served as a park supervisor of recreation for the Chicago Park District just before her aldermanic appointment. She owned the Eclectic Chique Clothing Boutique in Chicago from 2010 to 2014, according to her resume. She was among more than a dozen applicants to fill her brother’s old post.
Vetress Boyce - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Vetress Boyce is a business owner making her third run for 24th Ward alderman after unsuccessful campaigns in 2011 and 2015, though she competed in a run-off in the latter. According to her resume, Boyce has lobbied in favor of reparations and campaigned on behalf of Mayor Lori Lightfoot during her 2019 run as well as for Willie Wilson’s 2019 mayoral run.
In 2022, Boyce was one of the many applicants to toss her name into the ring to replace outgoing Ald. Michael Scott, though his sister, now-Ald. Monique Scott (24), was the one tapped to succeed him. Boyce owns and operates a medical supply business and beauty supply store.
Larry Nelson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Larry Nelson has worked as a staffer for U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and in 2022 applied to fill the 24th Ward seat vacated by former Ald. Michael Scott, though the seat would eventually go to his sister, current Ald. Monique Scott (24). According to his resume, Nelson previously worked for former 24th Ward Ald. Michael Chandler and later worked as a project coordinator for the Chicago Department of Human Services.
Tracie Treasure Johnson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Traci “Treasure” Johnson is making another run for the 24th Ward aldermanic office after a run for the seat in 2019. Johnson is a community activist who has worked in pest control, has served as secretary of the Midwest Community Council and worked for political campaigns at all levels, according to a 2019 Sun-Times article.
Creative Scott - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Creative Scott ran for 24th Ward alderman in 2019 and finished in second place behind former Ald. Michael Scott, though the two are not related. Creative Scott is a firearms instructor and works as an armed security guard, according to his resume. Creative also is a licensed barber and runs his own salon, according to his resume. He was among applicants to replace the former 24th Ward alderman in 2022, though the job ultimately went to Michael Scott’s sister, current Ald. Monique Scott (24).
Aida Flores - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Educator Aida Flores is making another run for 25th Ward alderman after coming in fourth place in 2019. Flores works for Chicago Public Schools. She is currently the assistant principal at Darwin Elementary, and she has previously been principal at Hernandez Middle School, assistant principal at Kelvyn Park High School and a history teacher at Benito Juarez High School, where she herself went.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) was first elected to the City Council in 2019. Originally from Ecuador, Sigcho-Lopez attended college in Tennessee before moving to Chicago. Sigcho-Lopez has experience as a community organizer and has continued to attend protests even while on the council. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has been the executive director of the Pilsen Alliance. While on the City Council, he helped found the Democratic Socialist Caucus.
Julian Perez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Julian “Jumpin” Perez is a popular Chicagoland house music DJ who has appeared on 104.3 Jams, B96, KISS FM, WBMX, WGCI, V103. Perez, who retired from DJing in 2022, founded the Julian Jumpin Perez Foundation in 2019 to help “fulfill his dream of giving back to the communities that have supported, and loved him throughout his career,” according to the foundation’s website. Perez is also an entrepreneur with experience running “multiple retail stores, a restaurant, nightclubs, and a mortgage and real estate company,” according to his campaign website. Perez, who is Cuban, came under fire for making a joke about Mexicans on stage during the 2019 Festival Cubano. He was dropped from the lineup by My House Music Festival in Pilsen and apologized for the comments.
Angee Gonzalez Rodriquez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Angee Gonzalez Rodriguez is the 26th Ward’s current Democratic Committeeperson and attempted a run for alderman in 2019 but did not make it on the ballot following challenges, according to Block Club Chicago. Gonzalez Rodriguez has lived in Humboldt Park since the early 70s but was born in Villalba, Puerto Rico.
She sits on the local school council for Lowell Elementary School and is a member of both the National Association of Professional Women and the Association of Latino Professionals for America, according to her campaign website. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s in legal studies, according to her website.
Jessie Fuentes - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jessie “Jessie” Fuentes is an openly queer activist from Humboldt Park running in the open 26th Ward race following the decision by Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) not to seek reelection and withdraw from the race. Fuentes’ work experience includes being the director of policy and youth advocacy for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Humboldt Park as well as the co-chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda of Chicago group.
On her website, Fuentes says her “lived experience overcoming poverty, violence and generational trauma, coupled with her professional accomplishments,” make her best suited to lead the ward. Fuentes is endorsed by United Working Families.
Walter Burnett - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27) grew up in the Cabrini-Green public housing complex and in his late teens served two years in prison for bank robbery, though he was pardoned in 1998 by then-Gov. Jim Edgar. Burnett pursued an education in political science from prison, earning an associate’s degree and a certificate in drafting. His father having worked in party politics under 42nd Ward Committeeman and Cook County Democratic Chairman George Dunne, Burnett got his start with the county’s Young Democrats in 1989. Burnett, who has served as alderman since 1995, previously worked in the office of then-Recorder of Deeds Jesse White and later ran White’s successful campaign for Secretary of State in 1998. While on the council, Burnett guided the creation of the 2007 Affordable Requirements Ordinance and was a main driver for revisions to the ordinance in 2015, 2017 and 2021.
Jason Ervin - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Jason Ervin (28) began his political career as the village manager of Maywood, where he worked with many of his predecessor and mentor Ed Smith’s allies. Smith was the longest serving Black official in Cook County and had held the alderman’s office for 27 years. Ervin was appointed to the City Council when Smith unexpectedly resigned from his seat in 2011. He won the 2015 election unopposed and handily avoided a runoff with 62 percent of the vote in 2019.
Shortly after his victory, Ervin was elected to chair the Aldermanic Black Caucus. He used his newly gained power to advocate for communities of color when he threatened to derail new zoning rules for weed dispensaries in 2019 unless the city created new measures to bring in more BIPOC cannabis entrepreneurs.
Though the measure eventually failed, Ervin continued his mission to ensure equitable representation for Chicago’s majority-Black wards. When the new ward remap plan was in the works, Ervin became a vocal opponent of any map that would reduce the number of majority Black wards. Ervin has been a relatively strong supporter of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as he offered an early endorsement of her reelection last September. After Ald. Carrie Austin (34) resigned from her chairmanship of the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity, Lightfoot hauled Ervin forward as her replacement.
Corey Dooley - 2023 Chicago Aldermanic Candidate
A former corridor manager for the Austin African American Business Networking Association, a job in which he helped manage urban and commercial planning and development in the Soul City Business Corridor. Dooley is a member of the Chicago Youth Council for Police Accountability and chairs the domestic violence committee for the Chicago Police Department’s 15th District community outreach. Dooley earned a political science degree from Concordia University Chicago and received master’s degrees in architecture and in social justice and human rights from Arizona State University.
CB Johnson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
CB Johnson is the CEO of Campaign For a Drug Free Westside and previously ran for alderman in 2011 in the 29th Ward.
Chris Taliaferro - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A marine veteran and former Chicago Police sergeant for over two decades, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) worked in the legal world before entering the Chicago political sphere. He served as a litigation attorney and one of the founding partners at Taliaferro Law Group, P.C, before jumping into the 2015 race for alderman.
Though incumbent Ald. Deborah Graham had strong support from Ald. Jason Ervin (28) and then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his Chicago Forward PAC, Taliaferro narrowly defeated Graham with just a 511-vote lead. He has become Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top ally on police issues after Lightfoot picked him to chair the Committee on Public Safety and ousted then-chair Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30).
Taliaferro has publicly supported Lightfoot and helped push her community police oversight plan to the finish line, even as some called it “window dressing.” He was one of a handful of aldermen to stand beside Lightfoot when she announced her bid for reelection but addressed some of her missteps during her first term. “I would really love to see some better approaches toward violence reduction. And that calls for better plans from our superintendent,” Taliaferro said.
He made an unsuccessful run for judge in the 11th subcircuit and was defeated by attorney Aileen Bhandari, despite leading in fundraising and party official endorsements.
Warren Williams - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Though his professional background is in video production and editing, Warren Williams is not entirely new to the Chicago political scene.
He was one of the founders of the 30th United, an independent political organization dedicated to serving the resident of the 30th ward. The group was created after constituents grew weary of the lack of response from their alderman’s office. Some of the issues the organization focuses on include promoting police-free schools, non-police crisis response, investing in public education and sustainability. Williams announced his campaign on Twitter in August.
He tweeted that his experience being epileptic has made him passionate about healthcare for all. Beyond his personal ties to his bid for alderman, Williams that he said his campaign would “fight for a clean, green, affordable, and accessible city for all.”
JuanPablo Prieto - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A lifelong Chicagoan and son of Colombian immigrants, JuanPablo Prieto has spent nearly the last decade of his life in public service as Director of Diversity Programs with the Chicago Transit Authority. Beyond his professional endeavors in public service, Prieto also serves on the boards of directors of La Casa Norte, which aids people experiencing homelessness; Latino Worker Safety Center, which provides multilingual workplace safety training; and the Spanish Coalition, which works to provide housing and education assistance to low-income families.
Ruth Cruz - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Campaign Site: https://www.ruthcruzfor30.com/
Bio: Ruth Cruz’s background in public service comes through the lens of education, as Cruz has spent the past 16 years of her career working in higher education. She currently works as the assistant director of admissions at Roosevelt University. A graduate of the Chicago Public Schools system, Cruz moved to the United States from Mexico at the young age of 7. After graduating high school, Cruz went on to get her bachelor’s degree in business administration and her master’s degree in management, both from the Robert Morris University. Aside from her career, Cruz has worked in public service through her volunteer efforts, both for the 30th Ward office under former Ald. Ariel Reboyras and in the Avondale Restorative Justice Community Court. Her campaign platform highlights “making sure working families can afford to live in our city, creating inclusive youth programs, bringing more quality jobs to the community, as well as more small business grants and relief program,” according to her campaign website.
Jessica Gutierrez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jessica Gutiérrez, the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, is running again for the 30th Ward City Council seat after nearly winning in 2019. Gutiérrez and outgoing Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) competed in a runoff election in which the sitting alderman won by about 300 votes.
Gutiérrez’s experience includes working as a Northside field coordinator for U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s congressional campaign. that Gutiérrez has been working with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center for the past few years.
Estaban Burgoa - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Esteban Burgoa Ontañon moved to Chicago from Mexico when he was 16, according to reporting from Block Club Chicago. For decades, he was involved in the local school politics in his community, and he served in the U.S. Navy overseas during the Iraq War. Ontañon landed in hot water in 2019 when he filmed inside the residence of 30th Ward aldermanic candidate Jessica Gutierrez — allegedly in support of Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30). Ontañon posted the footage on social media, revealing Gutierrez’s address, which led her to file a police report, Block Club Chicago reported.
Felix Cardona - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Felix Cardona, Jr. (31) is seeking a second term representing the 31st Ward after ousting incumbent former Ald. Milagros “Milly” Santiago in 2019. Cardona got his start working for former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios; first when Berrios was on the Cook County Board of Review and then later in the assessor’s office, as well as for Berrios-backed political campaigns, though Cardona has since distanced himself from Berrios.
Cardona is a member of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus and while on council supported the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. Cardona has been the 31st Ward Democratic Committeeperson since 2020.
Scott Waguespack - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) was first elected to the City Council in 2007 after defeating Theodore Matlakin in a runoff. Waguespack is a founding member of the City Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus and early in his career built a reputation as a proponent of good government in Chicago. The 32nd Ward alderman frequently made news during the Rahm Emanuel administration by butting heads with the former mayor over topics ranging from tax-increment financing to billboards.
Waguespack rode Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s successful election in 2019, moving from a staunch progressive council member to one of the mayor’s top allies and enforcers. As chair of the City Council’s Committee on Finance — one of the three most powerful committees — Waguespack plays a prominent role in council operations convening monthly meetings to regularly consider measures related to tax-increment finance agreements and police settlement payouts. Additionally, Waguespack has steered the committee toward environmental issues, such as a ban on the use of single-use plastics.
Waguespack is a proponent of aldermanic prerogative, a break from Lightfoot’s stance. Waguespack is running unopposed this year, just as he did in 2019.
Samie Martinez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Samie Martinez previously served as chief of staff to former 12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas and currently works as a project coordinator for the City of Chicago, according to his LinkedIn profile. Martinez attended DePaul University and University of Illinois-Chicago, earning a bachelor’s degree in public policy and a Masters of Public Health from those institutions respectively. Martinez previously conducted grant-funded healthcare research on socio-behavioral intervention at Northwestern University.
Laith Shaaban - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Laith Shaaban is an Iraqi American whose experience includes an appointment by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2020 to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on New Americans. Shaaban has also been a member of Horner Park Neighbors and was a founding member of the Northwest Safety Coalition, according to Block Club Chicago. Shaaban has worked as a project manager at LGIM America, according to Block Club, and has employment experience as an affordable housing developer and in municipal banking.
Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2019.
A Puerto Rican native, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez has been a longtime advocate for public education, immigrant rights and labor rights. She began her career in public service in Chicago when she settled in Albany Park and acted as the Resident Director of the Albany Park Theater Project. Rodriguez-Sanchez worked there for eight years before throwing her hat in the ring for alderman.
In 2019 she faced incumbent and former Illinois House of Representatives member Ald Deb. Mell, and narrowly defeated her with just 13 votes in a runoff election. Her win ended a nearly-40-year Mell dynasty in the 33rd ward, as Deb. Mell’s father Ald. Dick Mell had previously held the alderman’s seat. She’s the first Latinx alderman to represent the 33rd Ward and serves as the chair of the immigration committee on the council’s Latino Caucus.
She’s also a member of the Progressive Caucus. Rodriguez-Sanchez has championed progressive issues since taking office, exemplified by her introduction of the “Treatment Not Trauma” proposal, which would send social workers and paramedics to people experiencing mental health crises rather than police officers. She’s been a vocal opponent of many of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s policies and voted against both of the mayor’s first budget proposals.
Bill Conway - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Bill Conway is a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney who unsuccessfully challenged Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in the 2020 Democratic primary. Conway, who runs a solar development company that “helps schools and others develop solar solutions for their energy needs,” according to his campaign website, works as a professor of renewable energy finance at DePaul University and has also served as a reserve Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy.
Jim Ascot - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jim Ascot is a real estate broker who is currently the president and CEO of Ascot Realty Group. Ascot, an immigrant from Greece, ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District in 2006 and 2010.
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2015
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa was born and raised in Chicago and started as a community organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He later worked as a congressional caseworker for U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and as a Community Representative to the Avondale-Logandale Local School Council. The first openly gay Latino alderman elected to the City Council, Ramirez-Rosa was 26 –years old when he defeated Ald. Rey Colón with 67 percent of the vote – successfully avoiding a run-off. A Democratic Socialist, Ramirez-Rosa has championed causes including affordable housing and civilian oversight of the police department. He has been a vociferous critic of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, particularly in the early discussions of the civilian-led police oversight board. When Lightfoot went back on her promise to support the Grassroots Association for Police Accountability’s oversight plan, Ramirez-Rosa took to Twitter to critique her stance and “Mayor Lightfoot ran as an expert on police reform.
We should be able to assume that her decision to support civilian oversight wasn't made lightly.” He’s been a chief advocate on police accountability measures and pushed the expansion of Chicago’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance, which codified that undocumented residents are not prosecuted solely based on their immigration status. Lightfoot agreed to the issue after months of disputes. Ramirez-Rosa ran as Daniel Biss’s running mate for a whirlwind six days when Biss ran for governor.
He was eventually dropped from the ballot when Biss’s supporters learned that he supported the Boycott-Disinvest-Sanctions movement against Israel. Litesa Wallace quickly became Biss’s new lieutenant governor running mate. Ramirez-Rosa smoothly won his 2019 re-election and again avoided a run-off with 59 percent of the vote. He called his re-election “one of the most contentious in the history of our ward” in a letter to supporters. tweeted “Mayor Lightfoot ran as an expert on police reform.
We should be able to assume that her decision to support civilian oversight wasn't made lightly.” Ramirez-Rosa pushed the expansion of Chicago’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance, which codified that undocumented residents are not prosecuted solely based on their immigration status.Ramirez-Rosa smoothly won his 2019 reelection and again avoided a run-off with 59 percent of the vote. He called his reelection “one of the most contentious in the history of our ward” in a letter to supporters.
Gilbert Villegas - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2015
An active leader in the Chicago Latino community, Gilbert Villegas grew up on the North Side of Chicago and served in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He was honorably discharged after four years of service in the military and went on to work for the Illinois Capital Development Board, the state government’s construction management agency.
He then helped manage the campaign of Cook County Comm. Stanley Moore (D-4) while working for the Illinois Department of Transportation, and later lobbied for the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association. After incumbent Ald. Nicholas Sposato was redistricted out of his post into the 38th ward, Villegas tossed his hat in the ring. Villegas ran his first campaign for alderman on uplifting minority and low-income communities through business development and progressive tax policies.
Villegas won his 2019 re-election unopposed. He maintained his focus on economic and workforce development throughout his first and second term as the 36th ward’s alderman, in which he particularly emphasized expanding opportunities for minorities and veterans.
He’s been a sporadic critic of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, particularly when Lightfoot did not support the early plans for a universal basic income.
Lori Torres Whitt - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Lori Torres has served as a member of Chicago Teachers Union Executive Board and has 23 years of teaching experience with Chicago Public Schools, according to her website. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Torres has appeared in news coverage promoting vaccine access for teachers before returning to the classroom and advocated for the ability to continue remote work. Torres has the CTU’s backing in the 36th Ward race, as well as endorsements from United Working Families, Cook County College Teachers Union and Grassroots Illinois Action. She has also secured endorsements from U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill) state Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago).
David Herrera - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
David Herrera is a developer and former 26th Ward aldermanic candidate now competing in the recently remapped 36th Ward. Herrera challenged Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) in 2019 but was unsuccessful, coming in third behind Theresa Siaw and the 26th Ward alderman. Herrera has been involved with notable developments, such as a co-living startup apartment building in Ukrainian Village and a proposed Latin concert hall and supper club in Humboldt Park which has failed to come to fruition, according to Block Club Chicago.
Howard Ray - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Howard Ray is a Chicago native from the West Side who attended Iowa State University and Roosevelt University, according to his campaign website. Ray has worked for the public sector for much of his career, holding positions with the Chicago Transit Authority, U.S. Postal Service and currently the City of Chicago, his website says. As an organizer with the West Humboldt Park Community Coalition, Ray advocated for the creation of a community benefits agreement between the neighborhood and Amazon as the company planned to open a facility there.
Emma Mitts - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Arkansas-native Ald. Emma Mitts (37) has served on the City Council since 2000, when she was appointed to her seat by Mayor Richard M. Daley after then-Ald. Percy Giles was convicted of pocketing $10,000 in cash bribes from a government mole and extorting an additional $81,200 from a company operating an illegal dump in his ward.
Mitts was a Daley ally, as well as of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. One of Mitts’ more notable achievements on the council was fighting for the passage of a zoning change which allowed Walmart to open up its first Chicago store in Austin in 2006.
Mitts currently chairs the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Jake Towers - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jake Towers has lived in and served the Austin community for two decades, saying on his website that he and his family give back to the community through charitable works around Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. Towers’ father is a local pastor. Towers has been a Sunday school superintendent, summer camp leader and a youth pastor. He is currently working as an after-school kindergarten teacher and a pre-school teacher, his website says, as well as president of the Block Club on the 1000 block of North Leclaire Avenue, a position he’s had for five years.
Corey Denelle Braddock - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Corey Braddock was formerly an Indiana state trooper for two years and a Chicago Police officer for a decade, according to his website, as well as an investigator at a law firm, substitute teacher for Chicago Public Schools and independent business consultant. Born on the West Side of Chicago, Braddock attended St. Xavier University and Wabash College and currently serves on his local school council.
Franco Reyes - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Franco Reyes is a software engineer who heads his own team at Provi, an online alcohol wholesale marketplace. Reyes says on his website he’s a lifelong Chicagoan who earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Northern Illinois University.
Ed Bannon - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Former newspaper journalist Ed Bannon’s experience in community service and activism has included serving as president of the Six Corners Association, serving on the Dever Elementary Local School Council and volunteering at The Dunning-Read Conservation Area, where he helped the Park District identify improvements to the land, according to Block Club Chicago. Bannon, who resides in Dunning, has chaired the public relations committee for the 38th Ward Democrats since 2018, according to his website.
Nicolas Sposato - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2011.
Nicholas Sposato has made his mark on the Chicago City Council as one of few conservatives and the sole open supporter of former President Donald Trump. A lifelong resident of the Northwest Side, Sposato worked as a UPS driver and then a firefighter for 18 years before he made his bid for a City Council seat. When he ran for the 36th seat in 2011, he upset former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pick Ald. John Rice.
After his ward was redistricted into the 38th in 2015, he defeated incumbent Ald. Timothy Cullerton’s pick Heather Sattler and five other challengers with 53 percent of the vote.
Sposato was formerly a member of the Progressive Caucus, but departed from the group in 2017 due to disagreements on LGBTQ rights and social issues – though many members said they’d still work with him on labor issues. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2019 after he knocked opponent Ralph Pawlikowski off the ballot by challenging his petition signatures. His political differences from his fellow council members grown more apparent over his past two terms, as he has vocally opposed police accountability reform and protections for undocumented Chicagoans.
He supported Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 mayoral runoff, and has mostly voted with the mayor on policy issues. Sposato previously said he would retire in 2023, but announced his run for re-election as his overall health remains intact despite the challenges of his Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis.
Cynthia Santos - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Former Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Comm. Cynthia Santos worked as chief of staff for former 30th Ward Ald. Michael Wojcik before she ran for the water district commissioner position she’d go on to hold for two decades.
Santos has served on the Illinois Pollution Control Board since 2016. Outside of government, Santos has chaired the Irving Park YMCA board, various school boards and local school councils in her community and served on the Belmont-Central Chamber of Commerce board, she told Block Club Chicago.
Bruce Randazzo - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Bruce Randazzo is a retired city truck driver who spent three decades working for the City of Chicago in the water, aviation and streets and sanitation departments, according to a profile from Block Club Chicago.
In 2012, Randazzo ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in Illinois state House of Representatives District 20, losing to former Republican state Rep. Michael McAuliffe. Randazzo is self-funding his campaign and does not intend to host fundraisers or solicit money from voters, though he does use campaign volunteers, Block Club reported.
Denali Dasgupta - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Denali Dasgupta is a progressive candidate and data researcher who has performed data work and analysis for New York City’s Citizens’ Housing and Planning Council and for the policy division of the city’ s Comptroller’s Office. Dasgupta earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Yale University and a master’s degree in urban planning, housing and economic development from New York University. She has lived in Chicago since 2011 and she has her own business called Higher Ground Data. Dasgupta has worked with 39th Ward Neighbors United, according to Block Club Chicago , as well as campaigned for Michael Rabbit, a candidate for Illinois’ 15th House District who lost to incumbent state Rep. Mike Kelly. Dasgupta is endorsed by the progressive group United Working Families.
Samantha Nugent - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Samantha Nugent (39) was first elected to the City Council in 2019. Before being elected alderman, Nugent worked for the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the British Consulate and former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Nugent earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and a Juris Doctor from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She has the backing of multiple labor groups and elected officials such as Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin.
Andre Vasquez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Andre Vasquez Jr. was a political novice prior to the 2016 elections, when he began organizing for Bernie Sanders after meeting him at a campaign event. He canvassed for Sanders and went on to become the chair of the Reclaim Chicago North Chapter, where he campaigned and held community events for both Daniel Biss and state Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago).
Prior to serving on the City Council, Vasquez was a battle rapper and worked as an AT&T statewide area manager. In the 2019 election, he challenged former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s floor leader and longtime incumbent Patrick O’Connor. Vasquez campaigned on overhauling the practice of aldermanic prerogative and democratizing the development process. “[A]ldermen need to stop looking at their wards like fiefdoms,” Vasquez said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
Christian Blume - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Attorney Christian Blume is a Lincoln Square resident who attended law school at University of Illinois-Chicago. While in law school, Blume was in the Environmental Law Society and was managing editor of The John Marshall Law Review. Blume said he has provided pro-bono legal services to people dealing with mortgage foreclosures through Chicago Volunteer Legal Services and helped first responders through the Chicago Bar Association Wills for Heroes program. Though a private practice lawyer now, Blume was previously an assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago.
Jane Lucius - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Jane Lucius and her husband are small business owners and longtime Edgewater residents, according to her website. Lucius has served as a beat facilitator for the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program in the 24th police district and as president of Neighbors of Edgewater West.
Anthony Napolitano - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) has served in the City Council since 2015 and is politically independent, remaining one of the few aldermen not a member of any caucus.
Napolitano has an emergency responder background. He’s a former Chicago Police officer who worked both rapid response on the West Side and as a gang officer in the Austin neighborhood.
He is also a former Chicago firefighter. He has often supported pro-police policies and opposed police reform while on the council.
Paul Struebing - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Attorney Paul Struebing is a community advocate and organizer who serves as the vice president of the Edison Park Community Council. His experience includes serving as a community representative on the Ebinger Elementary School Local School Council and, according to his website, having “handled luggage at O’Hare, repaired bicycles and worked on countless job sites.”
Brendan Reilly - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2007
Brendan Reilly began his career in Illinois politics in 1995 as a staffer for former state House Speaker Michael Madigan. He then served as communications director for the Illinois Democratic party, before taking a brief hiatus from public service in 2001. In the interim he worked as a vice president at AT&T prior to making his bid for the 42nd Ward seat, held by Ald. Burton Natarus for over 30 years. Reilly defeated Natarus with 55 percent of the vote, as Natarus’s constituents grew tired of his laser focus on development.
Reilly ruffled some feathers with the mayor’s office during his first term when he came out in opposition of former Mayor Richard Daley and the plan to relocate the Chicago Children’s Museum to Grant Park. Reilly flexed his political muscle on the Children’s Memorial Hospital development plan and was able to work out an agreement to add safety studies on the facility’s proposed heliport, a demand from Streeterville residents.
Since he was elected 2007, Reilly’s power in the Chicago City Council has only grown, as he was chosen to serve as the vice mayor to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the president pro-tempore of the council under Mayor Lori Lightfoot. An illustrious fundraiser, Reilly has aided in the elections of dozens of state and county lawmakers, including former state Rep. John Fritchey and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2).
Timmy Knudsen - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Appointed to the City Council on Sept. 21, Ald. Timmy Knudsen made history as the 43rd Ward’s first openly gay alderman. Prior to his appointment to the City Council, Knudsen worked as chair of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. “As Chairman, he ensure[d] local residents, neighborhood groups and stakeholders of all kinds are fully heard and fairly represented,” according to his campaign website. “Navigating complex real estate projects and government agencies has equipped Knudsen to be an effective problem solver, which he will take to City Hall.”
Knudsen worked on Lori Lightfoot’s 2019 campaign for mayor under her campaign finance team and as a partner at Fairchild Morgan & Beres before joining the city council. “As I have throughout my legal career, my public service chairing the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals and my time as a grassroots organizer, I will be an advocate and consensus builder as alderman,” Knudsen said in an interview with Block Club Chicago .
“I bring a passion for private sector results to public service and am honored to have a new way to give back to the community I call home.” He’s strongly campaigned on his community engagement efforts in his bid for re-election and prominent LGBTQ community members have echoed the sentiment.
Rebecca Janowitz - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A longtime attorney, Rebecca Janowitz got her start in Chicago politics working for then-Ald. Toni Preckwinkle as her special assistant, where she “focused on constituent services, public safety, housing, education, economic development, traffic and infrastructure,” according to her campaign website. She later went on to work for Chicago Public Schools and more recently, the Cook County Judicial Advisory Council as the special assistant of legal affairs. While there, “[s]he helped oversee the distribution of millions of grant dollars to community organizations working in the areas of violence prevention, recidivism reduction and restorative justice,” according to her campaign website. Janowitz’s 2022 bid for the 43rd Ward seat isn’t her first. She ran for the seat in 2019 but she was handily defeated in the election and garnered only 4.8 percent of the vote.
Wendi Taylor Nations - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A longtime public relations executive, Wendi Taylor Nations previously threw her hat into the ring for the 43rd Ward shortly after then-Ald. Michele Smith resigned from the City Council. Though she ultimately wasn’t appointed, Nations is in the running again to head the 43rd Ward. Nations has pointed to her PR qualifications, her role in launching Obamacare in Illinois and her work as a “board member of the DuSable Museum of Black History and volunteer for various food insecurity and animal rescue organizations” as qualifications for her bid for the seat, according to her campaign website. Nations has the endorsement of Smith.
Brian Comer - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Brian Comer, president of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, was one of the applicants who sought to replace former 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith after she abruptly announced her retirement in the summer of 2022. Mayor Lori Lightfoot ultimately chose Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43) for the job. Comer works as a consultant assisting businesses and organizations in growing their reaches both nationally and internationally.
Steve Botsford - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Steve Botsford is a former Notre Dame football player with a master’s degree in economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Steven McClellan - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Steven McClellan is a community organizer who says on his website he has served multiple neighborhood associations, created the Ogden Park Safety Committee and assisted with improvement projects for local parks and playgrounds. McClellan says on his website he is serving his fourth term on the local school council at LaSalle Language Academy.
Bennett Lawson - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Bennett Lawson has served as chief of staff for the outgoing Ald. Tom Tunney (44) for 15 years, according to his campaign page, and is now seeking to replace his boss as 44th Ward alderman. Lawson, who previously worked for Tunney as community outreach director, is openly LGBTQ and heads outreach to the city’s LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS community in his 44th Ward capacity to help them launch programs and obtain funding. Lawson has been district director for Democratic state Sen. Carol Rosen. Just hours after Tunney announced his retirement, Lawson launched his own campaign with Tunney’s endorsement.
Kimberly Walz - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Kimberly Walz’s political experience began when she worked for U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, first when he served as the Cook County Commissioner and then when he was in Congress. After she left Quigley’s office, Walz worked in consulting with the Obando Group. Her work there included the campaigns of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. She also worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Illinois. More recently, Walz has been working for Walgreens as the company’s regional director of state and governmental relations.
Angela Clay - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Angela Clay is an activist and fourth-generation Uptown resident who was among those who challenged outgoing Ald. James Cappleman (46) for the seat in 2019 and is running again in the open race as a progressive candidate. Clay has the backing of Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33), Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (18) and former Ald. Helen Shiller. According to Block Club Chicago Clay’s activism has recently centered on fighting for affordable housing and the rights of tenants from lower rungs on the socio-economic ladder.
Marianne Lalonde - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Research scientist and community activist Marianne Lalonde is making another run for 46th Ward alderman, four years after forcing outgoing Ald. James Cappleman (46) into a runoff and losing by just 25 votes. Lalonde is a political organizer who helped start the progressive Lakeview Uptown Independent Political Organization and is an energy efficiency professional. She has also served on the Associates’ Board of Sarah's Circle, the Illinois Environmental Council's Young Professionals Board, the North Lake Shore Drive Study Task Force and on advisory committees at Clarendon Park and Uplift High School, according to her website. She has said the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies why it’s important to have someone with a scientific background on the City Council.
Roushaundra Williams - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Roushaunda Williams has been a social worker and now works as a union bartender at the Palmer House Hilton hotel, according to her Williams has been endorsed by the Chicago Federation of Labor.
Patrick Nagle - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Patrick Nagle is the chief administrative law judge for the federal Social Security Administration (SSA). Before his judicial appointment, Nagle worked in the U.S. Department of Justice and for the SSA as a litigant. Nagle is vice president of the East Lakeview Neighbors Association and has served on the 46th Ward Zoning Board.
Matt Martin - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Elected: 2019
Twitter: @MattMartinChi
Campaign Site: https://www.matt47.com/
Bio: A former civil rights lawyer with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, Matt Martin ran on a progressive platform of affordable housing, police oversight and TIF-reform efforts in 2019. Beyond his legal work, Martin served on his local school board at McPherson Elementary and co-founded the Heart of Lincoln Square Neighborhood Association. In 2019, he handily defeated opponent Michael Negron, who formerly worked as a policy advisor to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with 62 percent of the vote. He’s maintained his progressive stances, as he was one of more than 20 aldermen to vote against Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2021 pandemic budget as well as her $94 million property tax increase that year. Martin also voted against her 2020 budget and called it a step in the right direction, but not quite enough. More recently, Martin voted “no” on Lightfoot’s 2023 spending plan. Martin was one of several aldermen who pushed for the mayor to bring back the Department of Environment in the 2023 budget. Lightfoot instead included an Office of Climate and Environment Equity in her spending plan. Martin is currently the interim chair of the City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight.
Sources:
https://news.wttw.com/elections/voters-guide/2019/candidates/chicago-city-council/matt-martin
https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/04/02/47th-ward-matt-martin-vs-michael-negron/
Nick Ward - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Nick Ward moved to Chicago in 2004 to pursue his theatre career after receiving his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Miami University in Ohio. The son of two public school teachers, Ward was raised in suburban Detroit. While working in the Chicago’s burgeoning live theatre scene, Ward waited tables where he saw first-hand “how our world is organized to privilege the few over the many, which is why he is determined to build a Chicago where working families are centered and supported,” according to his campaign website. He published his debut book of essays “All Who Belong May Enter” in 2021. Aside from his artistic pursuits, Ward has served as the membership co-chair to the progressive neighborhood group 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice and the community representative to the local school council at Goudy Elementary.
Larry Svabek - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Raised in the south suburbs of Chicago, Larry Svabek works as a lecturer and fellow at the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD in Political Science. While pursuing his doctorate, Svabek did research on attempted harmony and interracial democracy in the wake of the civil war. Svabek cited this research as what sparked his interest in local government. He isn’t new to working in politics, as he served a short stint as a Congressional intern to Rep. Dan Lipinksi (D-IL) while he was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He’s running on a progressive platform of police reform and oversight, promoting affordable housing and increasing community engagement. Svabek has not yet officially launched his campaign, but he said he plans to host a campaign kick-off event at the end of September.
Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
A lifelong Chicagoan, Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth is a small business owner and community organizer who has lived in Andersonville for over two decades. Manaa-Hoppenworth has a long background in dance as a classically trained ballerina and graduate of the Chicago Academy for the Arts. She later received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago before going on to open the dancewear store Chicago Dance Supply in Andersonville. She’s also worked as a senior account executive with the Chicago Reader since 2018. Manaa-Hoppenworth discovered her knack for politics and organizing during the 2016 presidential election, when she founded two chapters of the Indivisible Project (Indivisible Illinois and Indivisible Illinois 9th District Anderson-Edgewater).
Isaac Freilich Jones - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Currently serving as Illinois’ Assistant Attorney General, Isaac Freilich Jones is a lifelong Chicago resident who has built his career on public and social services. Freilich Jones became a cancer survivor his senior year of high school, which cemented his belief in universal health care. His early career background is in consulting, when he worked as an associate with O-H Community Partners where he advised foundations, local governments and nonprofits on advancing environmentally sustainable development projects. Freilich Jones went on to attend Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago to work in private practice, in which he provided pro bono legal services to low-income renters who faced eviction. He’s also been active in local nonprofits, as he served as the Board President for the Howard Area Community Center. Some of Freilich Jones’s core issues bolstering affordable and public housing, overseeing the completion of the Lawrence-Brywn Mawr modernization project and expanding early childhood education.
Nassir Faulkner - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Nassir Faulkner has worked for Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office and has worked on U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley’s political campaign. Faulkner was “an inaugural member” of the Obama Foundation’s Community Leadership Corps, and in that capacity he sought to increase civic and voter participation, according to his website. He attended DePaul University, where he was president of the university’s College Democrats. Faulkner also used his time in the leadership corps to advocate for the creation of a tuition-funded program at his alma mater which provides financial aid to undocumented students who cannot qualify for federal aid.
Joe Dunne - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Peloquin worked on U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s 2012 Congressional campaign and Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon’s unsuccessful 2014 campaign for Illinois State Comptroller. On his campaign website, Peloquin lists numerous boards, organizations and efforts he’s been involved with, including as a member of the Friends of the Edgewater Library and serving as the Edgewater representative on the Chicago Association of Realtors’ Diversity Committee.
Roxanne Volkmann - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Roxanne Volkmann says she’s running to bring “working mom sensibility” to the City Council, according to a Twitter thread she posted announcing her candidacy. Volkmann’s campaign centers around stemming violent crime, increasing mental health resources and pushing back against what she portrays as “out of control” property taxes.
In the thread, she mentioned her son has been a crime victim himself, saying “My son was robbed at gunpoint over the summer. I’ve experienced the phone call that many parents dread and I know it could have been much worse. I will work hard to make it much better.” Volkmann works for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Brian Haag - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Brian Haag is one of the founders of Green Element Resale, a thrift shop in Edgewater. Haag’s campaign is focused on increasing environmental sustainability policies such as composting and using vacant lots for community gardens. He promises to use aldermanic menu dollars to subsidize people who want to plant native plants and wildflowers on land.
Andy Peters - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Andy Peters is a political consultant and the owner of TrueNorth Cafe, which had locations in Andersonville and Hyde Park, though the Andersonville location has closed. Peters unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary in June 2022 for House District 13 in the Illinois General Assembly.
During his run for the state legislature Peters told the Windy City Times “My Andersonville cafe is very political. We have had multiple candidates come here. During the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, JB Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Daniel Biss and multiple mayoral candidates came [there].”
According to his LinkedIn, Peters worked in former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office in 2011 as a coordinator of special projects, and Peters spent three years working for the Illinois Restaurant Association as a government relations and event manager. His consultant work includes political action committees, Chicago aldermen and state legislators.
Bill Morton - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce President Bill Morton is making another run for the 49th Ward City Council seat after he ran a write-in campaign for the position in 2019 but lost. Morton has also been president of the Leone Beach Advisory Council and has lived in Rogers Park for two decades.
Maria Hadden - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Maria Hadden was first elected to represent the 49th Ward in the City Council in 2019, beating 20-year incumbent Joe Moore. A housing organizer and nonprofit executive who had built coalitions on the Far North Side for more than a decade, Hadden garnered more than 63 percent of the vote in 2019 to oust Moore. Prior to being elected to the City Council, Hadden became a leading voice in the 49th Ward’s participatory budgeting process and founded the nonprofit Our City Our Voice, helping to build neighborhood involvement in local governing decisions.
Upon her election, Hadden became the first and only openly gay Black woman to serve in the City Council. She is a member of the Aldermanic Black Caucus, the LGBT Caucus and the Progressive Reform Caucus. Since taking office, Hadden has been a vocal proponent of drawing down funding for the Chicago Police Department and reinvesting the funds in social services.
Belia Rodriguez - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Belia Rodriguez is a first-generation Mexican American who has served on the board of directors at the Rogers Park Business Alliance and works as an IT consultant for businesses, nonprofits and schools.
Meuze Bawany - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Mueze Bawany is a progressive educator running for alderman in the 50th Ward. Bawany is currently the chair of the Chicago Teachers Union’s Housing committee and has worked as a public school teacher himself, as well as a CTU organizer and bargaining team member. Bawany is the son of a Pakistani taxi driver and grew up in West Ridge. He attended Northeastern Illinois University.
Debra Silverstein - 2023 Aldermanic Candidate
Ald. Debra Silverstein (50) has served on the City Council since 2011. In 2020, Silverstein ran for the 50th Ward Democratic Committeeperson post vacated by her husband, state Sen. Ira Silverstein, and defeated independent organizer Halle Quezada to become committeeperson. More recently during her time in office, Silverstein has secured millions of dollars for investments in schools, parks and a new streetscape on Devon Avenue.
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