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.

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