|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to The Deep Dish—Ballotpedia’s in-depth look at Chicago’s 2019 city elections.
This week, we're serving up the latest round of mayoral runoff endorsements, including 10 from unions, along with a campaign finance breakdown. Plus, debate schedules for mayor and council races, aldermanic endorsements, and a spotlight on the 16th Ward runoff rematch election. We'll also fill you in on where Lightfoot and Preckwinkle stand—and differ—on affordable housing policy.
   
|
Chicago will hold runoff elections for mayor, several city council seats, and city treasurer April 2. A general election was held Feb. 26. Races in which no candidate received a majority of the vote went to runoffs. All offices are nonpartisan and come with four-year terms.
|
|
Click here for more information on how to register
This week's news
Early voting in all 50 wards
Early voting in all 50 wards kicked off Monday. The Loop Super Site (175 W Washington St.) opened for early voting March 15. For locations and hours in all 50 wards, click here.
Voter registration will be available at early voting locations. A note from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners:
"Any voter who needs to register for the first time or file an address update or a name change must show two forms of ID, one of which shows the voter's current address."
|
Unions split endorsements in mayoral election
Nine unions that did not endorse during the general election did so Monday, giving their support to Lori Lightfoot’s mayoral campaign. Included in the list of endorsers were the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 9 and the Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308.
The Chicago chapter of Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), which endorsed Susana Mendoza ahead of the general election, endorsed Lightfoot March 14.
Toni Preckwinkle received endorsements from the Chicago Teachers Union and several affiliates of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), among other unions, ahead of the Feb. 26 election. She picked up the endorsement of the Illinois Federation of Teachers on Monday.
Other noteworthy endorsements since our last issue
Lightfoot:
-
The Chicago Tribune editorial board, which endorsed Bill Daley in the general election
-
Former 2019 mayoral candidates Jerry Joyce and Gery Chico
-
U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D), who faced incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the city's first mayoral runoff election in 2015
-
Our Revolution Chicago
Preckwinkle:
-
Teamsters Joint Council 25
-
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), who backed Willie Wilson in the general election
-
Former Cook County Board of Commissioners President Todd Stroger (Preckwinkle defeated him in the 2010 election)
For a full list of endorsements, click here.
|
|
Mayoral runoff campaign finances
As of Tuesday, Preckwinkle had reported raising $6.2 million to Lightfoot's $3.8 million. Since the Feb. 26 general election, Preckwinkle has raised $1.6 million to Lightfoot’s $1.9 million.
Preckwinkle's largest contributor has been the SEIU Illinois Council PAC Fund, which donated $2 million through Feb. 25. Her second-largest contributor, Service Employees Local #1 PEC, donated $784,000 through March 5.
Lightfoot has been her own largest contributor, having given $317,000 in loans and donations to her campaign through March 5. Peter Phillips, Lightfoot's second-largest contributor, donated $162,000 through March 7. Local media outlets have identified Phillips as a retiree.
|
Mayoral TV/radio debate schedule
| Upcoming: |
Past: |
| March 21: WTTW - 7 p.m. |
March 7: NBC |
| March 25: WGN - 7 p.m. |
March 20: ABC |
| March 27: CBS - 6 p.m. |
|
| March 29: WBEZ - 6 p.m. |
|
|
Quick Bites
-
Three wards have runoff rematches: the 15th, 16th, and 21st.
-
15th Ward: Incumbent Raymond Lopez faces Rafael Yañez. Lopez beat Yañez by 16 percentage points in 2015.
-
16th Ward: Incumbent Toni Foulkes faces Stephanie Coleman again. Foulkes won by 1.8 percentage points in 2015, a margin of 143 votes.
-
21st Ward: Incumbent Howard Brookins faces Marvin McNeil. In 2015, Brookings won by 2.2 percentage points—313 votes.
|
|
|
Sun-Times, Tribune aldermanic endorsements
The Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune editorial boards endorsed different candidates in seven of the 15 city council runoffs: the 5th, 21st, 25th, 39th, 43rd, 46th, and 47th.
Click the following links for full endorsement write-ups from the Sun-Times and Tribune editorial boards.
|
City council runoff forums
WTTW has hosted candidate forums for the 5th, 16th, 30th, 33rd, and 43rd Ward runoff elections. Note: Only one candidate each participated in the 16th and 30th Ward forums.
View videos of WTTW's forums here.
Other forums (links to further info on upcoming events and coverage of past events):
|
Lightfoot v. Preckwinkle on the issues
In this section of The Deep Dish, we'll highlight a policy area and show you how Lightfoot and Preckwinkle differ.
Two frequently debated approaches to increasing the affordable housing supply in Chicago are 1) amending the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) to increase requirements on developers to build affordable units along with their residential projects in the city, and 2) lifting the state ban on rent control. For background on these issues, click here.
Below are Lightfoot's and Preckwinkle's positions on both.
|
Ward spotlight: The 16th
Each week, we'll feature an interesting city council runoff race.
Welcome to the 16th Ward, where incumbent Toni Foulkes and challenger Stephanie Coleman are competing in a runoff rematch.
Foulkes won the first meeting in 2015, defeating Coleman in the runoff election by 143 votes.
In this February’s general election, where six candidates were on the ballot, Foulkes won 32 percent of the vote to Coleman's 44 percent.
Foulkes has been a council member since 2007, when she was elected to represent the 15th Ward. Redistricting in 2012 changed the 15th Ward’s boundaries, and Foulkes ran to represent what had become the 16th Ward in 2015. In addition to serving as alderman, Foulkes is executive vice president of the board of directors of the Paul Simon Job Corps of Chicago, a career development program for teens and young adults.
Coleman has been the Democratic committeewoman for the 16th Ward and city vice-chair for the Cook County Young Democrats since 2016. She is the daughter of former 16th Ward Ald. Shirley Coleman (1991-2007).
Foulkes says public safety, education, and economic development are her priorities and that she has a record of delivering on these issues. She says crime in the ward has decreased 53 percent, STEM programs have grown, and more than $150 million-worth of economic development is taking place in the ward.
Coleman says civic engagement, youth involvement in education policy, public safety, and economic development are her priorities. She emphasizes her experience as Democratic committeewoman and working with youth, saying these equip her to represent the ward.
The Chicago Teachers Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 back Foulkes. The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times editorial boards endorsed Coleman.
The 16th Ward includes parts of Englewood, Gage Park, West Englewood, and Chicago Lawn.
|
Candidate survey reply of the week
Ballotpedia's Chicago candidate survey was created through our partnership with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Interactivity Foundation, and City Bureau, as well as insights from more than one hundred diverse citizens living throughout Chicago’s wards.
Low-income families do not have the same choices, options, or alternatives when it comes to public school. How can this be addressed?
"Education is my passion, the foundation for my professional and activist work. I grew up in my continuously disenfranchised, underserved ward, even coming into contact with open gunfire. I have personally experienced the different trajectories lives can take based on educational opportunities. I attended an excellent public neighborhood elementary school, then Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Less fortunate friends got pulled into negative outcomes, while I went on to earn an M.S. ED. in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Teaching from National Louis University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
Though I oppose opening more charter schools, I support schools doing good work, regardless of status. I will push charter schools to develop community school models. I will also pursue requirements that charter schools provide proof of their compliance of providing special education services to students with learning disabilities."
— Nicole Johnson, candidate for Chicago City Council, 20th Ward
Read all of Johnson's responses →
Chicago candidate? Fill out the survey and you may be featured here.
|
|
Wrap up Chicago's election season with Ballotpedia in our March 26 webinar at 10 a.m. CDT focusing on the key issues and campaign messages in the mayoral race between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle. In particular, our experts will focus on the issues where the candidates differ most significantly. We'll also talk about the council races that went to a runoff.
|
|
|
