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.

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