On February 24, Chicago voters did something historic by declining to recoronate a sitting mayor, at least temporarily. But that wasn’t the only election here sent into overtime. Eighteen races for alderman were also pushed into runoffs when no candidate won a majority—meaning that more than a third of the City Council is still up for grabs.
The new Second Ward map looks like a crooked smile with some teeth missing. This is not a coincidence.
Emanuel hasn’t endorsed anyone in the race. But when pressed, both candidates said they’d voted for the mayor in February and probably would again in the runoff.
But residents are upset about more than federal investigations, according to McNeil—they’re also frustrated with poor service from the alderman’s office. He promises to do better if he’s elected. “The alderman is not the wizard, and the ward office is not the Emerald City,” McNeil says.
Things got interesting around 21 minutes into the March 20 debate between 31st Ward alderman Ray Suarez and challenger Milagros “Milly” Santiago, a former Telemundo reporter.
Santiago’s stumbles still might sell better than the notion of more Suarez. After 24 years as alderman in the 31st Ward—which contains parts of Albany Park, Avondale, Belmont-Cragin, and Hermosa—Suarez is facing the same antimachine sentiment that resulted in runoffs all over the city and is reshaping Hispanic politics on the northwest side. He’s historically been a mayoral loyalist and a key ally of county assessor Joe Berrios. But Berrios’s clout is in decline—as was evident last year when he couldn’t get his daughter reelected to the Illinois house.
