8th Ward - 2023 Aldermanic Race
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.
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