This district includes parts of Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown and Lincoln Square. The incumbent is Deborah Pope, a retired Chicago Public Schools’ teacher appointed by the mayor and endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
She faces Kyna Lenhof, 53, a former CPS special education teacher who currently works for a political fundraising and strategy consultancy. Endorsed by Common Ground Collective — an organization opposing CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson — Lenhof is also treasurer for the 40th Ward Democrats.
Also running is Daniel Basco, a 37-year-old Andersonville resident who is a senior director at a firm providing fundraising assistance to nonprofits and health care outlets. He is positioning himself as an independent in the race.
Pope is one of the leaders among the bloc on the school board that backs CTU and the mayor. She’s knowledgeable and obviously cares deeply about CPS.
But her inflexible pro-CTU stances provide a disservice to taxpayers, most evident in her support of the unbalanced 2027 budget. We appreciate Basco’s desire to make a difference, but Lenhof offers the best chance to bring a balanced point of view to the board. In her responses to us, she highlighted the need for belt-tightening while also saying cuts won’t put the district on a sustainable fiscal course by themselves. Kyna Lenhof is our choice.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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