Anyone looking for a 2023 #Ward06 elections page?

Remapped 6th Ward - adopted May 2022

The map you see above is of a remapped 6th Ward which was adopted in May 2022. This is the ward that candidates for Alderman will be running to represent.

At this moment I don't know if there will be an election page here which will be typical for this blog since 2011. I have shared again publicly the links for all local elections in 2015 and 2019 we covered multiple wards especially in light of the 2011-12 ward remap.

I don't know if there is any interests from the other bloggers here in other wards especially other than wards 6, 9, and 21. As you know there is some turnover as Ward 6 Ald. Roderick Sawyer is running for mayor next year and Ward 21 Ald. Howard Brookins is retiring from the city council. The only incumbent since 2011 that weve covered who's running again next year is Ward 9 Ald. Anthony Beale.

BTW, in shameless self promotion there is a 2023 Elections page over at Ninth Ward Chicago.

If nothing else if you would like to see a separate page here on at least the race to succeed Ald. Sawyer for Ward 6 Alderman feel free to drop a comment and let us know.

Just to let you know right now Worlee Glover at Concerned Citizens of Chatham has a concise list of candidates who want to succeed Ald. Sawyer in Ward 6.

And, yes I need to update with vote totals the 2019 page. Not sure why that didn't happen back then although if you're looking for 2019 results for Ward 9 you can check Ninth Ward Chicago. 

Chicago Mag: Will Lori Lightfoot Be One and Done?

 You might have seen this in Chicago Magazine recently.

Just a year before the election, Lightfoot looks in danger of becoming the first elected mayor in 40 years not to win a second term.https://t.co/WUIeVQLbcH

— Chicago magazine (@ChicagoMag) January 26, 2022

Here's a brief excerpt.

After Lori Lightfoot won the 2019 mayoral runoff with 73 percent of the vote, an alderman commented, “Her support is a mile wide and an inch deep.” In other words, she was a candidate for a moment in which voters were fed up with corruption, but she didn’t have a base that would stick by her in a crisis.

That has turned out to be the most prescient assessment of Lightfoot’s political appeal. The world has changed a lot since her election. The COVID-19 pandemic is about to enter its third year, and the city is as violent as it’s been in a quarter century. Chicagoans are exhausted — with life, and with Lightfoot. According to an Ogden & Fry poll conducted for Fox 32 in November, 62 percent don’t believe she deserves reelection. Just a year before the election, Lightfoot looks in danger of becoming the first elected mayor in 40 years not to win a second term.

Lightfoot has been praised for leading the city through the pandemic and for investing in neglected neighborhoods, but crime is causing the city to turn against her. The year before she was elected, there were 547 homicides in Chicago; last year, the total topped 780, the most since the mid-1990s. In the summer of 2020, the Magnificent Mile was trashed and looted twice during protests against police brutality. Carjackings were up 43 percent in 2020, compared with the year before. “One of the major issues she ran on was she’s going to take control of the crime issue,” says Matthew Podgorski, who conducted the Ogden & Fry poll. But now 75 percent of voters disapprove of how she’s handling it.

Well we have another year before we vote for mayor, clerk, treasurer and the 50 members of the city council. Perhaps we'll know by fall if the Mayor decided to bow out after a term or run for re-election. 

WGN: Lightfoot focused on safer Chicago, reelection after 'relatively mild' COVID bout

 

[VIDEO] If you didn't know Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier this month put out a tweet stating that she tested positive for coronavirus. WGN later caught up with her at Rainbow Beach as she talked about the issue of crime and her re-election in 2023. Believe it or not that's a year away.

Me personally I'd rather believe that she'd opt not to run for re-election however we shall see how the next few month shake out. Besides who knew that Mayor Rahm Emanuel by September 2018 would bow out of running for a third term as mayor in 2019.

What's also noted in this report is while she does have enough money for a potential re-election campaign it wasn't as good of a monetary haul as Mayor Emanuel as he geared up for re-election in 2015.

However, until the 2023 mayoral race we still have the issue of crime which was noted in the above report as she's point her finger at the Chief Judge of Cook County Timothy Evans as she wants to keep the most dangerous criminals at Cook County Jail.

She's also going to Washington, DC to meet with the Biden administration with regards to federal help for the crime issue in Chicago. Genuinely I'm glad the mayor is healthy and back to work. We also have a little bit more time until we know what her future political plans will be.

Congressman Bobby Rush to retire

 This is huge news to start the new year 2022. It started breaking Monday afternoon and now that we have an open seat in the 1st Congressional District who else besides Jahmal Cole will go for this seat.

It'll be official in the morning, but it's confirmed. U.S. @RepBobbyRush, D-Chicago, the only person ever to have beaten @BarackObama in an election, is retiring at this end of this term after nearly 30 years in D.C. Cld be lots of potential successors. https://t.co/J4Yvh4daDH

— Greg Hinz (@GregHinz) January 3, 2022

Also bear in mind primaries will be held in June 2022! 

More remap news: what's going on with #Ward09

 I've been retweeting like crazy any news to be found on the ward remap. The main thing I found yesterday was that the Latino Caucus and a few other alderman went over to the City Clerk's office to file their own map. As you know the Dec. 1st deadline has passed and that should mean that in June - presumably during next year's primary elections that month - the city's voters will choose a map. That is except well negotiations continue and that might mean even though this deadline has passed city aldermen (or is it alderpersons I still hate that) could still vote on and approve a map for the next decade.

City Council members file paperwork to send the ward remapping process to a referendum. ⁦@ABC7Chicago⁩ pic.twitter.com/oACH1WcfKU

— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) December 2, 2021

One of the people should be recognizable here, that's Ward 9 Alderman Anthony Beale. Another people with the Latino Caucus map is Ward 2 Alderman Brian Hopkins. Doing a quick Google search I see Ald. Beale's comments. The Latino Caucus Ward Remap is called the Chicago Coalition

 

Chicago Crusader talks about this:

Alderman Beale is Lightfoot’s biggest critic among the 20 Black aldermen. He broke with the Black Caucus this week after clashing with its chairman, Alderman Ervin, when talks involved removing the diverse and voter-rich Pullman neighborhood from Alderman Beale’s ward, which also includes the less affluent West Pullman and Roseland neighborhoods.

Before the Rules Committee canceled its plans to vote on the map, Alderman Beale, in an interview with WGN 720 Radio, said he was trying to enter a room where talks were being held when Alderman Ervin stopped him from entering.

“I was told that I could not go in the room with the Black Caucus by the chairman of the Black Caucus,” Alderman Beale said. “I know where that came from, and I know he’s doing that on behalf of the mayor because there are certain people in this process that are constantly trying to be heard.”

A critic of Mayor Lightfoot, Alderman Beale believes his ward is under attack.

When WGN 720 Radio asked him, “So, they’re trying to draw you out?” Alderman Beale responded, “Absolutely. They’re trying to take the Pullman area out of my community. They’re trying to take all the best housing stock out of my community and all these things were done without talking with me and working with me, and so I went and saw there was a coalition of people. And I went to join the coalition because I have to do what’s right for my community and fight for my community.”

In a brief interview with the Crusader, Beale reaffirmed his move to the Latino Caucus came when learned that he was being allegedly shut out of the remap talks by the Black Caucus.

“I knew I was being dismissed when I was being denied access by Ervin and the Rules Committee,” he said.

Sources confirmed to the Crusader that Beale found out that his ward was being redrawn when he was informed by Alderman Susan Sadowski Garza. Beale then went into the room and saw the Black Caucus ward remap that confirmed what he had been told.

I see the two conflicting maps over at Greg Hinz' column at Crain's and here are Hinz' thoughts:

Politico: The remap's clash of the Chicago caucuses

 As it turns out on this Thanksgiving Eve the December 1st deadline is just around the corner. So I'm copying a lot more than I would actually be comfortable with but here's what's written by Shia Kapos on the ward remap:

The Chicago City Council’s Black Caucus presented vague details of a redistricting map for the city’s 50 wards, though Ald. Jason Ervin was clear about wanting to keep a three-seat advantage over the Latino Caucus.

His caucus is calling for 18 majority-white wards, 17 Black wards (one less than there is now), 14 Latino wards (one more than there is now) and one Asian ward.

“We believe this number is appropriate and gives everyone the space needed to move this program forward,” Ervin, chair of the council’s Black Caucus, said at a press conference yesterday at the Harold Washington Cultural Center. He displayed a map that made sweeping generalizations about where Black and brown wards might be but didn’t show how individual wards might be drawn. Tribune’s John Byrne has a picture.

The boundary debate is ratcheting up the tensions between the two caucuses ahead of a Dec. 1 deadline for the City Council to approve a new ward map. If it's not nailed down by then, voters could get to decide in a referendum next year.

The Black Caucus’ proposal falls short for the Latino Caucus, which has presented a detailed citywide map that uses census data to create ward boundaries that account for the population increase among Latinos — which has surpassed Black population in Chicago.

“If this is something that the Black Caucus wants to use to start discussions, I can tell you that they’re off on the wrong foot,” Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), head of the Council Latino Caucus said in the Sun-Times story by Rachel Hinton.

Points of contention are on the South and Southwest Side sides where there’s been a Black exodus while the Latino population has grown in areas such as Chicago Lawn, New City and Ashburn. The Latino Caucus is recommending 16 Black wards and 15 Latino wards.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for the two caucuses to come to an agreement. “If they don’t reach a compromise, most of the members of the City Council are going to lose — most of them will lose, some won’t, but most of them will,” she said at an unrelated news conference. “Because, if they throw this to a referendum, anything is possible. They have to recognize the art of compromise.”

After December 1st, voters would get to decide the ward map that they want. I get a feeling there won't be a compromise hear and no real mayoral influence to get there. My prediction, but then again who knows.

WGN News: State's Attorney says she's not soft on crime

 

[VIDEO] Just remember over the past summer a poll listed both State's Attorney Kim Foxx and Mayor Lori Lightfoot as under water on the crime issue. After what happened in the Austin neighborhood on the west side last month with no charges for "mutual combatants" she's at an event with the west side NAACP.

The State's Attorney claimed to have very little power as far as bail which she says judge's control. She explained a law passed by the state which not the ability to pay cash for bond shouldn't determine whether or not you're held. It should be your threat to public safety should determine whether or not you remain in custody.

She's very concerned about the "false narrative" around her job performance as State's Attorney. I don't know if her office's handling of the west side shooting which is also mentioned in this report along with her spat between the Mayor and Police Supt. David Brown has helped change that false narrative.

Fox 32 Chicago: Poll show bad news for the mayor

 

[VIDEO] When was the last time we heard from Mike Flannery of WFLD-TV on this blog. The longtime political reporter discusses a poll by Ogden & Fry with regards to whether or not voters would consider giving Mayor Lori Lightfoot a second term on the 5th floor of city hall. And 46% are opposed to giving the Mayor a second term as mayor with 28% unsure and 25% say they're in favor of her getting a second term.

Also noted in this report is strong report for her city employee vaccine mandates and firing of those city workers who won't comply. It's making national news the friction between police union leader John Catanzara and the Mayor as far as the vaccine mandate for Chicago Police officers. With concerns that Chicago Police will be at half coverage due to those officers who choose to defy the city's vaccine mandate.

Flannery states that we have 16 months before we cast ballots in the 2023 municipal elections for mayor. While I hold out hope that she might decide not to run for a second term, he's right in stating that if she wants to turn her fortunes around before the next mayoral race then she needs to get busy. Her comments toward Catanzara over the vaccine mandates doesn't make that promising.

Lightfoot later Thursday called the Tabares-Napolitano ordinance “foolishness” and plans to do “everything I can to stop it.”

Catanzara “has demonstrated over and over again he’s racist. He’s a misogynist. He’s xenophobic. He hates immigrants and refugees,” Lightfoot said. “I think people in her ward need to ask why [Tabares] is carrying the water for a guy like that.”

I heard the sound bite on the radio way before I found that quote in the Sun-Times. Seems like more conflicts ahead. 

Sun-Times: The city could still make a play to keep the Bears

Former South Works site

Did someone read my thoughts on the Bears' stadium issue? The one where I propose the Bears come down to the former U.S. Steel South Works site that is waiting for further development? Well I'm not naieve enough to think that I'm the first to come up with, however, I didn't even see this being discussed.

Anyway from a recent Sun-Times editorial:

We could imagine, for instance, a Bears stadium on land owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority at 35th Street and Shields Avenue, just north of the White Sox’s ballpark. Part of that deal could include the proper redevelopment of the 70 acres of surface parking — also owned by the ISFA — that surround the ballpark.

Or, if the Bears would prefer another lakefront stadium, the city could offer a piece of the 500-acre former U.S. Steel South Works site. To do that, City Hall would have to bring the land’s owner, U.S. Steel, to the table. But the steelmaker might be wise to listen, given that two decades of redevelopment plans for the land have fluttered and died like Jack Concannon’s forward passes.

At the U.S. Steel site, the Bears would enjoy a nearly blank slate to build on and the result, if done right, could greatly benefit the working-class South Chicago neighborhood.

“So I just ask you, with all the priorities you have of lifting up communities, which is where the priority has to be, let’s not give up on trying to find a place to keep these guys in Chicago,” [Ward 48 Ald. Harry] Osterman said to Cox.

The planning department did not respond to Osterman’s suggestions, other than reissuing a statement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. “The mayor,” the statement said, “has said numerous times, our door in City Hall remains open to engage the Bears.”

Ald. Osterman wasn't suggesting any sites for the Bears to consider within the city, but he does want the city to work further on keeping the Bears from going to Arlington Heights, Illinois. I'm glad to see that someone at the Sun-Times sees the former South Works site as a potentially viable option for whatever the Bears want to do around a new NFL stadium.

Time will tell as far as whether or not the Bears will pull a trigger on moving from Soldier Field. Who knows what effort the Mayor of Chicago would make or even if she would be successful in keeping one of the historic NFL franchises from leaving Chicago. 

BTW, I hardly pay attention to the NFL anymore but I wish I had seen their routing of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Ward Remap: The People's Map

[VIDEO] I'm a few days late however an independent group the Chicago Advisory Redistricting Commission created a map for consideration by the Chicago City Council. This report from WGN discusses this proposed map.

A few things to consider and it wasn't much different from the debate in 2011-2012. The Latino community wanted more representation and this map would create a ward designed to elect an Asian-American to the City Council. For that Asian-American they would likely be elected in a ward centered around the Chinatown community.

With this said, I see that Englewood could be one ward which is what R.A.G.E. has often advocated for. How many wards will be drawn to elect Black Aldermen (or is it Alderperson or Alderwomen). The map is a bit different than I'm sure many of us are used to and for the city council itself I'm sure they will debate among themselves how their map for the next 10 years.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaign in 2019 for an independent commission to draw a ward map. She welcomes this map reportedly though she's a long way from supporting the map you will see below the People's Map.

The People's Map

Also noted in this report by Tahman Bradley the political reporter for WGN and you might know from the last remap led by Rahm Emanuel. 41 Aldermen must vote in favor of this map, however, if more than 10 Alderman reject this map and propose another this will trigger a special election where Chicago voters will choose a ward map.

I also wanted to add that the Mayor had also supported an elected school board then opposed proposals for an elected school board when it was proposed in Springfield and we ultimately got an elected school board whether or not she actually wanted one. Will she treat a city ward map much different we shall see?

Do you like what you see with the above map?

The crime issue in Chicago

 

[VIDEO] I've been hearing about this on the radio today and decided this is a good story to share. We see a spat between Mayor Lightfoot and State's Attorney Foxx over the lack of charges in the case of a shooting in Austin on the west side.

Both the Mayor and the State's Attorney have polled under water as far as the crime issue this past August. Also bear in mind Cook County voters re-elected Kim Foxx last year.

I want to share another post from yesterday over at the CapFax which discusses the lack of charges in the Austin neighborhood shooting from last Friday. Here's one quotable:

False arrests and convictions have cost city taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. A more careful and just approach has been warranted, but this is ridic.

Is Lightfoot wrong in her comments towards the State's Attorney? Should there be more effort to charge the gunmen? 

CapFax: WGN Chicago Poll Mayor and State's Attorney under water crime huge issue

 Get a load of this. I'm not too surprised about this poll regarding Mayor Lightfoot, but State's Attorney Foxx? Really? We just gave her a second term last year and now Chicago voters especially disappove of Kim Foxx's performance?

WGN Chicago poll: Lightfoot and Foxx under water, crime top issue, positive opinion of CPD at 70 percent and rising https://t.co/ppdsdrB5LQ

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 17, 2021

And also support for Chicago Police is growing. 70% of Chicago residents have a positive view of the police.

Perhaps someone reading this is among them.

The population of Chicago grew in the last decade

 The city gained 51,000 residents from 2010 to 2020 according to the recent U.S. Census. CapFax shares a number of stories from Chicago area outlets sharing more numbers. Chicago remains America's 3rd largest city, it's not over for us yet! 

Census news: Chicago’s gains https://t.co/1EmrNAWygI

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 13, 2021

Now for this remap. The census was controversial for the last ward remap.

Is Mayor Lightfoot running for a second term?

 This piece by Crain's Greg Hinz seems to hint that she may not. Although the media just about a month ago was speculating that Gov. Pritzker may not run again only for him to announce that he's running for a second term and since the primary for Governor is in June next year he might drag this process out.

Well I do expect that if Mayor Lightfoot has a deadline for a decision it'll be the same type of deadline that Mayor Rahm Emanuel used or even Mayor Richard M. Daley. Perhaps we'll know more by the fall of next year 2022 just before we cast our ballots for Governor in the general election in November. 

Meanwhile what is Hinz saying:

One thing I learned a long, long time ago is that you never believe any politician—any politician—when they respond to a question about their future political plans. They all lie. Even the best of them. So a wise person takes any pronouncements about future plans with a ton or two of salt.

That having been said, Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised eyebrows all over town today when she seemed to strongly hint in an interview with the New York Times that she may well not seek election to a second term in in 2023.

Re-upping for four more years “is not a gimme,” the mayor told the Times’ Kara Swisher, going considerably farther than she has in interviews with Chicago media.

“The toxicity of the debate, the physical and emotional toll that it’s taking on all of us, those are serious issues,” Lightfoot said. “And we have to have a — my wife and I and my daughter and my close friends and my team, we have to have a serious conversation about why and what that would look like and what we believe that we would be able to accomplish.”

I think this is true considering the challenges - including the pandemic for sure.

Besides, calling it quits at a time of pandemic and soaring violent crimes is becoming a habit among other city chief executives, Lightfoot added. “This is a tough time for mayors all across the country,” she said, mentioning both Atlanta’s Keisha Lance Bottoms and Seattle’s Jenny Durkan.

We are in tough times right now and I can believe even a very strong chief executive probably would want to just step away.

Here's another thought:

One heavy hitter I spoke with who’s been of help to Lightfoot said the transcript of the interview suggests to him she’s “getting ready to walk away from the job.” That source pointed to the mayor’s fund-raising, which after a pretty good first quarter dried up in the second quarter, with Lightfoot for Chicago pulling in just $10,067 in the three months ended June 30, leaving the mayor with a sizable but not overwhelming $1.790 million in the bank.

Well it was noted in this piece that the Mayor said she came into office to push people out of their "comfort zones". Do you believe she was successful in that?

Do you think she should run for a second term? Do you think she's had a successful tenure so far? 

If yout want to check out the interview with the NY Times click here. Unfortunately you have to sign up for an "free" subscription with the NY Times to listen to the interview or to read the transcript.

CAN-TV Political Forum: Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15)

 

[VIDEO] Ald. Lopez is a vocal critic of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and here he is on a recent edition of Political Forum on CAN-TV talking about what's going on in his ward and certainly what's going on in the city of Chicago right now. If you want to hear from your Alderman (or is it Alderperson which just doesn't sound right) especially if you live in Ward 15 here you go!

If nothing else, Ald. Lopez seems to genuinely care about a ward that seemingly has often been neglected over the years. And it has been devastated in the past year not only by the pandemic or civil unrest but by the high incidents of violent crime in the city.

Capitol Fax: Um, mayor? What the heck?

 Rich Miller covers the FOIA request over emails from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and it's not good. Perhaps many are accusing the mayor of not treating the people who work for her very well. In fact one email that I noticed over the weekend shows her writing repeatedly about how she needs office time. 

I liken that to having to write things over and over again as punishment as perhaps my class had to do in grammar school. Not fun and jarring to see a politician do something similar.

Um, mayor? What the heck? https://t.co/8azWLRSh7H

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 14, 2021

I just had to share this from the blog

…Adding… I didn’t notice this at the end of the Politico story…

The mayor’s job is tough. It’s not hard to imagine her predecessors — Rahm Emanuel or Richard M. Daley — erupting similarly. Hers was just memorialized in an email.

Um, no.

 Hmmmm, being Mayor of Chicago is a tough job. And I have a difficult time believing her immediate predecessors Daley and Emanuel would've had their behavior immortalized in an email that could be FOIA'd.

When I get elected to something I need to avoid using email or any private messaging. While not transparent it seems smart....

Capitol Fax: Compromise plan for elected school board passes state senate

So we have clear path to an elected school board. It would start off as a hybrid with both appointed and elected members in the near future. This occurred just yesterday near the end of the session. The post starts off discussing a local state legislator who plans to call this compromise for a "concurrence" in the state House of Representatives. There was a bill in the state House for a fully elected school board.

House sponsor of Chicago elected school board bill endorses compromise legislation as Senate takes it up https://t.co/IDSP67oswd

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 1, 2021

Capitol Fax: New hybrid Chicago school board plan floated

I found this update at the CapFax yesterday on where a new hybrid school board proposal for Chicago is in Springfield.

New hybrid Chicago school board plan floated https://t.co/bN4ZcYY5Gu

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) May 26, 2021

Capitol Fax: Harmon recommends hybrid transition to eventual fully elected Chicago school board

We made it to May and share this quick update about an elected school board via CapFax. A new potential possibility is forwarded by Senate President Don Harmon if this finally gets passed if a hybrid board ultimately transitions to a fully-elected school board. It seems whether or not we're ready a change is coming as far as how this city governs a school board.

Harmon recommends hybrid transition to eventual fully elected Chicago school board https://t.co/WHnhtWFwPW

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 30, 2021

 The state senate is pushing a hybrid school board consisting of both appointed and elected members. While the state house passed a bill calling for a fully-elected school board. What's going on here is both chambers have to hash out a proposal that will ultimately be signed by Gov. Pritzker and take effect in the near future.

Any educators out there have any thoughts?

CapitolFax: Lightfoot’s proposal would elect just three school board members

 We see more about Mayor Lightfoot's hybrid proposal for the CPS school board which by 2028 will elect three to an 11 member board with ultimately 8 appointed by the mayor. However, the voters will elected two members to a 7 member board the remainder appointed by the mayor by 2026.

The comments in this CapFax is showing how this could go over and it's not very well. The legislation is sponsored by state senate majority leader Kimberly Lightford who unfortunately has tested positive for the coronavirus. I do wish her well at this time.

Lightfoot’s proposal would elect just three school board members https://t.co/vsZkraDxCU

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 15, 2021

Beyond that your thoughts. You like the idea of a hybrid school board? Do you like the mayor's proposal? Do you think there needs to be an elected school board in Chicago?