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.”

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.”

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.

Edward Ward has worked as a coordinator for Chicago Public Schools’ Sustainable Community Schools Program and has previous experience as a restorative practices specialist, coaching educational professionals in that capacity on how to hold talking circles and peace circles. Ward, a DePaul University graduate, was one of the candidates who applied to replace former Ald. Michael Scott, though the position ultimately went to Scott’s sister, Ald. Monique Scott (24).

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 24^th police district and as president of Neighbors of Edgewater West.

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.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) tweeted Tomorrow! Join the Department of Planning and Development for the first community meeting on the Milwaukee Avenue Urban Identity study! You can learn more at the project website, and register below Register (1/11/23, 6pm): https://tinyurl.com/4ks8fepn Website: http://chicago.gov/MilwaukeeAve"

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) tweeted "This morning I met w/ @PeoplesGasCHI concerning their meter replacement program in the 15th Ward’s #ChicagoLawn community. As work progresses into 2023, we cannot leave sidewalks in this condition. I look forward to working together to speed up restoration for my residents."

Ald. Matt O'Shea (19) tweeted "I'm honored to have the endorsement of IUOE Local 150."

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) tweeted "We are working to organize a Town Hall this month to discuss the #plowthesidewalks initiative. There are approximately 500K people with disabilities living in Chicago. It’s OUR responsibility to champion equity and opportunity for ALL Chicagoans."

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) tweeted "I am honored to be endorsed by the 40th Ward Dems! The 40th Ward Dems, led by @MaggieJOK, are committed to increasing voter access and turnout in our ward! Thank you for all you do! I look forward to continue working together to move our ward forward!"

Access Living is hosting a panel on disability issues with mayoral candidates at 115 W. Chicago Ave. at 1 p.m. Saturday. Andrés Gallegos, who is the chair of the National Council on Disability, will host the panel and members of the public are welcome to attend. The event will also be livestreamed. Additional information, including candidates’ answers to a questionnaire, is available online.

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 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 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.

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). 

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.

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 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 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.

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.