—The Ricketts, who tried to boot Ald. Tom Tunney from the 44th Ward only to see him run away with 64 percent of the vote. He teared up during his victory speech.
— U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, whose aldermanic candidates lost in the 14th Ward (against Burke) and 25th (against the strident Byron Sigcho-Lopez). Garcia also backed Jessica Gutierrez, the daughter of former Congressman Luis Gutierrez, in the 30th Ward. She made it to a runoff against Ariel Reboyras.
The Ricketts spent a bunch of money on that race, bad-mouthed the alderman every chance they could and got their clocks cleaned on election day. Welcome to Chicago.
Chuy’s organization got a very late start against Burke and while Tanya Patino raised about $150K she only received 30 percent of the vote to Burke’s 54. Beating the alderman turned out to be a whole lot more difficult than beating the alderman’s legislator brother.
In the 1st Ward, Daniel La Spata held a commanding early lead against Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno. La Spata had 61 percent of the vote with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
Meanwhile, in the 45th Ward, Jim Gardiner led Ald. John Arena. Gardiner had 51.8 percent of the vote with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
Chicago Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno said his car was stolen. He filed a police report last month declaring the alleged theft. Now, Moreno says it was all just a big misunderstanding.
WGN’s Meghan Dwyer spoke to the woman behind the wheel — a single mother who said she was shocked to be arrested after Moreno loaned her the car.
And Arena ginned up some furious backlash in his ward…
Arena is a member of the City Council’s progressive caucus and has faced fierce opposition in his Northwest Side ward for promoting affordable housing, including his support of a planned affordable housing development at 5150 N. Northwest Highway.
The 45th Ward includes Jefferson Park, Gladstone Park, Old Irving Park and parts of Portage Park and Forest Glen on the city’s Northwest Side.
In the Far North Side 49th Ward, Moore, the third-longest tenured council member, trailed Chicago Teachers Union-backed challenger Maria Hadden. With 85 percent of precincts in, Hadden had 64.5 percent of the vote to 35.5 percent for Moore.
Moore said he figured his long career as an alderman was coming to an end.
“I don’t think we can overcome it,” Moore said. “The handwriting is on the wall as the fat lady waits to take the stage.”
Moore, who often opposed former Mayor Richard M. Daley, became a close ally of Emanuel, which lost him a good deal of support in his historically independent-minded ward.
In the 33rd Ward, Ald. Deb Mell was headed to a run-off, as she trailed Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez by 66 votes. Rodriguez-Sanchez had 42 percent of the vote with all the precincts reporting Tuesday.
Ald. Marty Quinn appeared to be headed to an easy victory over David Krupa, election results indicated Tuesday night, poised to defeat the DePaul University freshman in a landslide in Chicago’s 13th Ward.
Quinn won 85 percent of the vote with 75 percent of precincts reporting by 8 p.m., compared to Krupa’s 15 percent of the vote, according to the Chicago Board of elections.
Krupa, a recent Fenwick High School grad and part-time FedEx forklift operator, cashed in savings bonds and used graduation gift money to open a campaign office. But he wasn’t taking on just any alderman - setting his sights set on powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan’s hand-picked alderman. Quinn is perhaps Madigan’s most senior political operative and has represented the 13th Ward on the city’s Southwest Side since 2011.
But, did they really “lose”? I’ve always just assumed this race wasn’t ever about winning, but about making life difficult for Team Madigan with the potential for lawsuits, etc.
