In an election year that has seen upheaval on the Chicago City Council with retirements and aldermen running for other offices, voters still heavily backed their current aldermen in February’s municipal election, with incumbents winning 31 of the 50 races outright.
Not all those races were easily won. In 22 contested races, incumbent City Council members faced challengers hoping to unseat them, but most of the sitting aldermen who chose to run for another term were able to protect their places at City Hall with over 50% of the vote in their wards.
In only one race — in the 12th Ward — the incumbent lost in the first round of voting. In that ward, community activist Julia Ramirez beat newly appointed Ald. Anabel Abarca with 57% of the vote, according to official vote totals released Wednesday.
But in four other wards, come May there will be a new alderman. In the 14th, 26th, 34th and 44th wards, candidates Jeylú Gutiérrez, Jessica “Jessie” Fuentes, Bill Conway and Bennett Lawson won after longtime incumbents announced they would not run for reelection. In total, there were 12 seats up for grabs where the incumbent council member chose not to seek another term.
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Still, 14 races have yet to be decided, as no one candidate received a majority of the vote in their ward. Six of those races involve incumbents — in the 11th, 24th, 29th, 36th, 43rd and 45th wards. All of those incumbents came out of the first round as the top vote-getters but didn’t pass the 50% threshold. The remaining eight ward races are guaranteed to be represented by a new alderman after the sitting council member retired or sought higher office.
The winners of those 14 undecided races will be determined in the April 4 runoff election.
Search by ward to see the winner of each City Council race. Click “More about this race” in the pop-up box for more detailed results on that contest.