The Deep Dish: March 28, 2019

March 28, 2019

Here's your slice of Chicago's 2019 elections    Welcome to The Deep Dish—Ballotpedia’s in-depth look at Chicago’s 2019 city elections. This week, we're serving up a runoff resource roundup—a collection of candidate questionnaires, forums, and background information to get you up to speed on the candidates' positions and experience. Also, a final mayoral campaign ad roundup and a spotlight on the 5th Ward city council race. Finally, see which runoff candidates have filled out our unique Chicago candidate survey—and how to contact those who haven't. Stay tuned for our runoff results edition, delivered hot and fresh April 3.           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   Runoff resource roundup Mayoral election roundup On the issues: Ballotpedia has followed a number of major issues throughout the 2019 mayoral election and tracked candidate positions. Follow the links below for overviews of each issue and statements from Lightfoot and Preckwinkle: Pensions Ethics reform School closings School board selection method Affordable housing Crime Police consent decree Tax increment financing (TIF) Here are some of the issues where Lightfoot and Preckwinkle have notable differences (for full overviews, please click the links above): Ethics reforms An alderman charged with attempted extortion. A University of Illinois report showing more individuals convicted of public corruption in the Northern District of Illinois (including Chicago) than any other metro area over the past 40 years. These events have occurred alongside the 2019 elections. Some ethics reform proposals—including term limits, banning outside income, and ending aldermanic privilege—could be pursued through ordinance. The next mayor and city council will decide if that happens.   School closings In May 2013, the Chicago Board of Education voted to close 50 public schools. A five-year moratorium on district-run school closings that went into effect in the fall of 2013 ended in the fall of 2018. The next mayor will play a role in determining whether to close additional schools or pursue other strategies to address Chicago Public Schools' under-enrollment and under-performance challenges.  Affordable housing Two frequently debated proposals for creating more affordable housing in the city are increasing requirements on developers and lifting the state ban on rent control. Current city law requires residential developers meeting certain criteria (like those receiving public funding) to either include a specified number of affordable housing units in their projects, build the units off-site, pay an in-lieu fee, or do some combination of these. In 1997, the Illinois General Assembly banned rent control in the state, prohibiting municipalities from regulating how much landlords could charge for rent.    Questionnaires Lightfoot and Preckwinkle filled out questionnaires from WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times. To view their side-by-side responses, click below: WBEZ questionnaire Sun-Times questionnaire   TV/radio debates Follow the links below to view videos of forums and debates that have taken place. For more coverage of these and other candidate forums, please click here. Upcoming: Past: March 29: WBEZ - 6 p.m. March 7: NBC   March 20: ABC   March 21: WTTW   March 25: WGN   March 26: FOX   March 27: CBS     Background deep dives The Chicago Sun-Times has write-ups providing extensive personal and professional backgrounds for each candidate, found here. WTTW released short documentaries on each candidate, featuring interviews with family members. Watch Lightfoot's here and Preckwinkle's here.   Ballotpedia's runoff webinar Check out our Chicago wrap-up webinar, where we summarize Lightfoot's and Preckwinkle's backgrounds, key messages, and policy differences. We also take a look at some other key runoff races. City council election roundup These are the wards and candidates with aldermanic runoff elections: Ward 5 Leslie Hairston (i) William Calloway Ward 6 Roderick Sawyer (i) Deborah Foster-Bonner Ward 15 Raymond Lopez (i) Rafael Yañez Ward 16 Toni Foulkes (i) Stephanie Coleman Ward 20 Nicole Johnson Jeanette Taylor Ward 21 Howard Brookins (i) Marvin McNeil Ward 25 Alex Acevedo Byron Sigcho-Lopez Ward 30 Ariel Reboyras (i) Jessica Gutierrez Ward 31 Milagros Santiago (i) Felix Cardona Jr. Ward 33 Deb Mell (i) Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez Ward 39 Robert Murphy Samantha Nugent Ward 40 Patrick O'Connor (i) André Vasquez Ward 43 Michele Smith (i) Derek Lindblom Ward 46 James Cappleman (i) Marianne Lalonde Ward 47 Matt Martin Michael Negron   Ballotpedia's candidate survey: Last chance! Who has and hasn't filled out Ballotpedia's candidate survey? Find out below, and learn how to ask candidates to participate. Ballotpedia's unique Chicago candidate survey was developed in partnership with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Interactivity Foundation, and City Bureau, as well as insights from more than a hundred diverse citizens living throughout Chicago’s wards. The following runoff candidates have filled out our survey. Click their names to see their responses. Treasurer: Melissa Conyears-Ervin City council: Nicole Johnson (20th Ward) Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) Felix Cardona Jr. (31st Ward) Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) André Vasquez (40th Ward) Marianne Lalonde (46th Ward) Matt Martin (47th Ward) Michael Negron (47th Ward)   The following runoff candidates have not filled out our survey. Click their names below for instructions on how to contact them and request they fill it out. Mayor: Lori Lightfoot Toni Preckwinkle Treasurer: Ameya Pawar City council: Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) William Calloway (5th Ward) Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward) Deborah Foster-Bonner (6th Ward) Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) Rafael Yañez (15th Ward) Toni Foulkes (16th Ward) Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward) Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) Howard Brookins (21st Ward) Marvin McNeil (21st Ward) Alex Acevedo (25th Ward) Ariel E. Reboyras (30th Ward) Jessica Gutierrez (30th Ward) Milagros Santiago (31st Ward) Deb Mell (33rd Ward) Robert Murphy (39th Ward) Samantha Nugent (39th Ward) Patrick O'Connor (40th Ward) Michele Smith (43rd Ward) Derek Lindblom (43rd Ward) James Cappleman (46th Ward) Questionnaires Read runoff candidates' responses to questionnaires from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune below: Sun-Times Tribune   Forums Click the links below to view videos or other coverage of aldermanic runoff forums: 5th Ward 16th Ward 30th Ward 33rd Ward 40th Ward (coverage here and here) 43rd Ward 47th Ward   Ward spotlights In previous editions of The Deep Dish, we highlighted interesting races in the 16th, 40th, and 47th wards. See coverage of those at the links below: 16th Ward 40th Ward 47th Ward And check out our spotlight on the 5th Ward race below! In the news Mayoral campaign ad roundup Preckwinkle has released two TV ads and Lightfoot five in the mayoral runoff. Both candidates aired their first runoff ads March 1. Lightfoot's ad, "Change," features her saying that the election "is about demanding an independent, accountable City Hall that serves the people, not the political machine." Preckwinkle's TV ad, "Big Game," portrays Lightfoot as a wealthy corporate lawyer. A narrator says Lightfoot defended a bank in a racial discrimination lawsuit, "overruled investigators to justify police shootings," and worked for Republican politicians as a lawyer at Mayer Brown. Lightfoot rebutted the charges in a later ad in which she called Preckwinkle an "entrenched political insider." Lightfoot's other TV ads have featured her daughter, a man she helped get out of prison, and U.S. Rep./2015 mayoral challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Preckwinkle’s second ad began airing Wednesday. It criticizes Lightfoot's handling of a lawsuit related to a house fire when she was general counsel and chief of staff of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications in 2004. Preckwinkle temporarily stopped airing TV ads two weeks ahead of the runoff, with campaign staff saying it was a strategic decision. Ahead of the Feb. 26 general election, Lightfoot aired one TV ad to Preckwinkle's four.   Spending Politico reported Preckwinkle's campaign had spent $650,000 on TV ads in the first few weeks of the runoff. Lightfoot had spent $1.1 million. Lightfoot also spent $90,000 on her latest ad featuring Garcia. We don't have spending figures for Preckwinkle's latest ad. 5th Ward campaign office hit by gunshots Three bullets struck the campaign office of 5th Ward city council candidate William Calloway Monday. The shots came while Calloway and staffers were conducting a phone bank at the office. No one was injured. Police said the target of the shooting wasn't clear and that it was being investigated as criminal damage to property. “Public safety is of the highest importance and this goes to show that,” Calloway said. “When I’m elected, that’s going to be a top thing I focus on.” Calloway faces incumbent Leslie Hairston in Tuesday’s runoff. A Hairston campaign representative said, "That type of violence is very disturbing and has no place in our community.” Quick Bites   Historical tidbits 1st: The 2019 election will give Chicago its first female African-American mayor. 2nd: This is the second mayoral runoff election in the city's history. The first was in 2015. Runoffs first became possible with the switch to nonpartisan mayoral elections in 1999. 3rd: Lightfoot or Preckwinkle will be the city's third mayor in 30 years. Richard M. Daley served from 1989 until his retirement in 2011. He was the longest-serving mayor in Chicago history. 4th: This is the fourth open mayoral race (meaning the incumbent is not seeking re-election) in 100 years. Ward spotlight: The 5th   Welcome to the 5th Ward. Incumbent Leslie Hairston is in her first runoff election since 1999, when she was first elected to the city council. Hairston’s opponent is William Calloway, a community organizer and activist who advocated for the Laquan McDonald shooting video to be released to the public. Hairston received 48.6 percent of the vote Feb. 26. Calloway received 26.7 percent. Hairston emphasizes her membership on the City Council Progressive Reform Caucus and has campaigned on her record. She says she helped bring development to the ward, including two new grocery stores. Hairston also says she has pushed for a more independent oversight agency to investigate police misconduct, protested school closings, and encouraged the protection of residents in the area of the Obama Presidential Center, set to be located in the 5th Ward's Jackson Park. Calloway highlights his activism on police reform and violence reduction. His campaign priorities include increasing the inspector general's authority to audit city council spending, which he says Hairston opposed; police reform; increasing development in the ward, which he says Hairston has not done enough of; and supporting a community benefits agreement for the Obama Presidential Center, which would require some jobs associated with the development go to local residents and that low-income housing be available in the area. Hairston and Calloway disagree on some city council ethics reform proposals. Hairston opposes term limits while Calloway supports them. Calloway thinks aldermen should not hold outside employment. Hairston disagrees, unless a job presents a conflict of interest. The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Hairston. The Chicago Tribune backed Calloway. The 5th Ward includes parts of Hyde Park, South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, Woodlawn, and Jackson Park Highlands neighborhoods.

Archive

2019

• The Deep Dish: April 3, 2019
• The Deep Dish: March 21, 2019
• The Deep Dish: March 14, 2019
• The Deep Dish: March 7, 2019
• The Deep Dish: February 27, 2019
• The Deep Dish: February 21, 2019
• The Deep Dish: February 14, 2019
• The Deep Dish: February 7, 2019
• The Deep Dish: January 31, 2019
• The Deep Dish: January 24, 2019
• The Deep Dish: January 17, 2019
• The Deep Dish: January 10, 2019
• The Deep Dish: January 3, 2019

2018

• The Deep Dish: December 20, 2018
• The Deep Dish: December 13, 2018
• The Deep Dish: December 6, 2018
• The Deep Dish: November 29, 2018