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.

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.

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.

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.