The Deep Dish: November 29, 2018

November 29, 2018

Here's your slice of Chicago's 2019 elections    Welcome to the first issue of The Deep Dish—Ballotpedia’s in-depth look at Chicago’s 2019 municipal elections.         Voters head to the polls Feb. 26, where they will select a new mayor and decide all 50 city council seats as well as choosing a treasurer and city clerk. Chicago’s next mayor faces a number of critical issues, including taking on the city's debt burden, pension system shortfalls, high property tax rates, high crime rates, economic and racial divisions, and concerns around police use of force. We'll be watching how candidates approach these and other issues—and how Chicago’s voters respond. Chicago has a strong mayor-council form of government. That means the mayor has considerable influence over the city’s operations. The mayor is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and committee members, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. In 2018, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was responsible for a budget of $8.6 billion, comparable in size to the budget of Iowa. The city's estimated spending for 2018 was greater than that of eight states. The mayor also appoints school board members for Chicago Public Schools—the nation’s third-largest school district. For all offices on the ballot, runoff elections will be held April 2 for races in which no candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote. All offices are nonpartisan. The race to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sept. 4 he would not seek a third term. Emanuel was first elected in 2011. Emanuel faced a dozen challengers when he bowed out of the race. By the Nov. 26 filing deadline, the field had grown to 21 candidates. According to Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen, this is probably the largest number of candidates running for mayor since at least 1901. "For the first time since 1983, there isn't a powerful incumbent or overwhelming frontrunner like Rahm Emanuel in 2010," Mark Konkol wrote in Patch. Twenty candidates, including Emanuel, filed for the open-seat mayoral race in 2011. That field narrowed to six by election day. The following candidates filed for the 2019 mayoral race: Dorothy Brown (Cook County Circuit Court clerk) Gery Chico (former chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley) Conrien Hykes Clark (no campaign website/social media accounts found) Bill Daley (former chief of staff to President Barack Obama) Catherine Brown D'Tycoon (no campaign website/social media accounts found) Amara Enyia (director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce) Bob Fioretti (former 2nd Ward alderman) Ja'Mal Green (activist) La Shawn Ford (state representative, District 8) Jeremiah Joyce Jr. (lawyer) John Kozlar (lawyer) Lori Lightfoot (former Chicago Police Board president) Sandra Mallory (no campaign website/social media accounts found) Richard Mayers (no campaign website/social media accounts found) Garry McCarthy (former Chicago police superintendent) Susana Mendoza (Illinois comptroller) Toni Preckwinkle (Cook County Board president) Neal Sales-Griffin (tech entrepreneur) Paul Vallas (former CEO of Chicago Public Schools) Roger L. Washington (police officer) Willie Wilson (businessman) As of Nov. 26, candidates had raised a total of $8.7 million. The biggest fundraisers: Bill Daley, son of former mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of former mayor Richard M. Daley—$2.6 million. Gery Chico, former chief of staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley—$1.1 million. Garry McCarthy, former Chicago police superintendent—$927,000.   Quick Bites: In 1995, Chicago switched from plurality-winner partisan primary and general elections for citywide offices to nonpartisan general elections that advance to runoffs if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote. Chicago had its first mayoral runoff election in 2015.  Emanuel and Chuy Garcia emerged from a five-candidate field to advance to a runoff. Emanuel won by 12 percentage points. Chicago has not elected a Republican mayor since 1927. Though the office became nonpartisan in 1995, the two mayors that have served since—Richard M. Daley (1989-2011) and Rahm Emanuel (2011-2019)—have histories in elected office as Democrats. 50 city council elections All 50 seats on Chicago’s City Council are up for election Feb. 26. Each of the city's 50 wards elects one member (aka alderman/alderwoman) to the council. An average of 54,000 people live in each ward. Forty-five of 50 current council members are seeking re-election, and four incumbents are running unopposed. A total of 212 candidates filed to run for city council. In 2015, 44 incumbent council members ran for re-election. Seven were defeated—an incumbent re-election rate of 84 percent. Thirteen (26 percent) current city council members were first elected in 2015. The city council is Chicago’s primary legislative body. The council is responsible for adopting the city budget; approving mayoral appointees; levying taxes; and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances. City council members serve four-year terms. City treasurer election Current city Treasurer Kurt Summers is not seeking re-election. Emanuel appointed Summers in October 2014 and he was elected to a full four-year term in 2015. Four candidates filed for the open seat: 47th Ward Ald. Ameya Pawar, state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, certified public accountant Peter Gariepy, and Richard Mayers. Mayers also filed to run for mayor, city clerk, and 23rd Ward alderman. He needs to decide which office to seek by Dec. 3, 2018. The city treasurer manages Chicago's cash, investments, four public employee pension funds, and the Chicago Teacher's Pension Fund. The treasurer also "manages a number of programs that promote financial education and small business growth in Chicago’s neighborhoods." City clerk election City clerk Anna Valencia is running for her first full four-year term. Emanuel appointed Valencia to the post in December 2016, replacing Susana Mendoza, who won a special election to become state comptroller. Three candidates filed to challenge Valencia. The clerk is the city's official keeper of records and documents. The clerk's office is where you can go explore city records, buy a city vehicle sticker, pick up a municipal ID, or register your dog. "Clerks also play an important role in the system of checks and balances by offering perspectives, policies, and opinions that are independent from other municipal offices,"  according to the city clerk's office website.   You're invited: 2019 Chicago Community Discussion Project Sponsored by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation Through a partnership with the Interactivity Foundation and City Bureau, Ballotpedia is recruiting a diverse group of citizens from a sample of Chicago’s wards to participate in guided forums and discuss the key issues facing the city. The concerns and questions heard from these forums will be translated into a list of questions for candidates. All 2019 candidates running for election in the city of Chicago will be invited to respond to these questions, which will then be added into Ballotpedia’s in-depth coverage on Ballotpedia.org. If you or someone you know is in Chicago and interested in participating in these discussions, email "Yes Chicago" to gundersen@interactivityfoundation.org or fill out the online intake form.

Archive

2018

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