The mayor’s race isn’t the only circus in town. On February 24 voters will also choose their aldermen for the first time since all 50 wards were redrawn in 2012—though we’re pretty sure we know the outcome in six wards where incumbents are running unopposed.
Seventh Ward
Lawyers, guns, and ballot challenges
More than 50 residents applied to the mayor’s office to finish Sandi Jackson’s term, including her chief of staff, Keiana Barrett. She had the experience—she reportedly ran the Seventh Ward office while the alderman commuted from Washington, D.C. Eventually, though, Mayor Rahm Emanuel picked Natashia Holmes, who’d worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation, to fill the seat.
Polls—and the sheer number of candidates—all but guarantee this won’t be decided until the runoff. —Mema Ayi
11th Ward
Will the Daley dynasty continue?
Sullivan and the other candidate, law student John Kozlar, say residents are tired of public offices being passed down like heirlooms. This much is clear: the grandson of Mayor Richard J. Daley and nephew of Mayor Richard M. Daley has chosen to campaign as a Thompson. While his full name will be on the ballot, Thompson has kept the “Daley” out of his election ads.
25th Ward
Alderman Solis is not in the building
After Morfin was out of the picture, Solis changed his position on closing the plant, and the company that owned it and a nearby plant in Little Village eventually went bankrupt. Mayor Rahm Emanuel even launched his reelection bid with a TV spot crediting himself with closing the plants.
35th Ward
A referendum on Rahm and rising rents
Ramirez-Rosa, a community organizer, has reminded voters that the alderman has voted with Mayor Emanuel 96 percent of the time. He didn’t have to remind them of the mayor’s record; Rahm’s no hero in the ward, which is predominantly Hispanic and working-class but also includes a growing number of young middle-class whites.
