City Council Sees Some Change With Aldermanic Runoff Results
By aaroncynic in News on Apr 8, 2015 6:35PM
Photo by Brooke Collins/City of Chicago
The race for mayor of Chicago wasn’t the only game in town last night, as some 18 Aldermanic posts were also part of yesterday's runoff election. While some of the races, like the 10th ward contest between incumbent Alderman John Pope and challenger Susan Sadlowski Garza, are still in a too close to call phase, the dust has settled for most of the Wards.
Alderman John Arena (45), held onto his seat with 54 percent over John Garrido, who again challenged Arena after his narrow defeat in 2011. Arena, a frequent critic of Rahm Emanuel, was backed by the CTU and SEIU, while Garrido received support from the pro-Emanuel super PAC, Chicago Forward. "This victory is a nail in the coffin of the old way of doing things," Arena told DNAinfo. "We've seen glimpses of what this Ward can be."
In the 11th Ward, Patrick Daley Thompson, heir to the Daley throne, beat out 26-year-old John Kozlar, in the Ward’s first runoff since 1947. Thompson was backed by both Emanuel’s super-PAC as well as SEIU.
Emanuel appointee Natashia Holmes was defeated by challenger Gregory Mitchell in the 7th Ward by 14 percent, with Mitchell taking in 57 percent of the vote. “I wish him the best as alderman, to be honest,” Holmes told the Sun-Times.
In the 41st ward, incumbent Alderman Mary O’Connor, who received nearly $40,000 from Chicago Forward, was bested by newcomer Anthony Napolitano, a Chicago firefighter who was backed by SEIU.
Though Emanuel will retain plenty of support on the City Council, the fact that several incumbent Alderman who were his staunchest supporters prevailed last night could signal a changing tide in the trend of “rubber stamp” Aldermen. “While the obvious story is the mayoral race, yesterday was a big victory for many of us working to grow the progressive caucus,” said Kristen Crowell, Executive Director of United Working Families, a newly formed super-PAC that worked in direct opposition to Chicago Forward.
Crowell was joined on a conference call with reporters this morning by representatives of several unions and other organizations that supported numerous candidates in the runoff, as well as defeated mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. The CTU’s Jesse Sharkey said that the opposition organized around Emanuel and his City Council allies will continue to play an important role moving forward. “It really was the inaction among traditional politicians to stand up and take on the mayor, which got us gearing up for a fight of our own,” said Sharkey. “We’ve been able to create a conversation about what kind of city we want that has gone much deeper and put a lot on the table, which has been percolating for the last several years.”
Below are the results of all Aldermanic races, via Crain's:
2nd Ward:
Brian Hopkins, 7,176—56 percent
Alyx Pattison, 5,571—44 percent
7th Ward:
Gregory Mitchell, 6,636—57 percent
Natashia Holmes, 5,047—43 percent
10th Ward: (97 percent of precincts reporting)
Susan Sadlowski Garza, 5,472—50 percent
John Pope, 5,465—50 percent
11th Ward:
Patrick Daley Thompson, 7,046—58 percent
John Kozlar, 5,119—42 percent
15th Ward:
Raymond Lopez, 3,501—58 percent
Rafael Yanez, 2,578—42 percent
16th Ward (97 percent of precincts reporting):
Toni Foulkes, 3,653—51 percent
Stephanie Coleman, 3,515—49 percent
18th Ward:
Derrick Curtis, 9,718—68 percent
Lona Lane, 4,595—32 percent
20th Ward (97 percent of precincts reporting):
Willie Cochran, 4,079—56 percent
Kevin Bailey, 3,267—44 percent
21st Ward (98 percent of precincts reporting):
Howard Brookins Jr., 7,374—51 percent
Marvin McNeil, 7,168—49 percent
24th Ward:
Michael Scott, 5,248—67 percent
Vetress Boyce, 2,534—33 percent
29th Ward (95 percent of precincts reporting):
Chris Taliaferro, 6,279—52 percent
Deborah Graham, 5,768—48 percent
31st Ward:
Milly Santiago, 4,152—51 percent
Ray Suarez, 4,021—49 percent
36th Ward (97 percent of precincts reporting):
Gilbert Villegas, 4,338—56 percent
Omar Aquino, 3,415—44 percent
37th Ward:
Emma Mitts, 5,211—53 percent
Tara Stamps, 4,675—47 percent
41st Ward (98 percent of precincts reporting)
Anthony Napolitano, 9,487—52 percent
Mary O'Connor, 8,726—48 percent
43rd Ward (96 percent of precincts reporting)
Michele Smith, 6,,504—50 percent
Caroline Vickrey, 6,406—50 percent
45th Ward:
John Arena, 8,333—54 percent
John Garrido, 7,163—46 percent
46th Ward (98 percent of precincts reporting)
James Cappleman, 6,645—54 percent
Amy Crawford, 5,705—46 percent