This district covers parts of Logan Square, Albany Park and Avondale, and schools here serve primarily Hispanic students.
Appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson to fill the seat was Logan Square resident Norma Rios Sierra, 45, who works for the Chicago Park District and is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union. She is running to be elected in her own right.
Opposing her is Peter Gonzales, 33, who works as a lawyer in the Illinois secretary of state’s office and lives in Avondale.
Rios Sierra has been a staunch supporter of CTU in her time on the board and has shown herself to be temperamentally unsuited for the job. Last year, she yelled “Free Palestine” at Jewish board member Ellen Rosenfield as the two were leaving a meeting after a charged budget vote. The Anti-Defamation League of the Midwest called the incident “disqualifying” and said Rios Sierra should resign.
Gonzales, who is endorsed by Common Ground Collective and Aldermen Felix Cardona and Gilbert Villegas, tells us that teachers deserve a strong voice but that no organization should have “an outsized voice” in management of public schools. He’s a strong candidate, and Peter Gonzales has our endorsement.
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Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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