Angela Clay won the the open race to succeed retiring Ald. James Cappleman in the North Side 46th Ward, with contender Kim Walz conceding late Tuesday.
With 96% of precincts reporting, Clay had received 56% of the votes to Walz’s 44%, according to unofficial results.
“I’m extremely proud of the work we have put in,” Clay told the Tribune during her victory party at Carol’s Pub in Uptown. “It’s multigenerational and multinational.”
Clay said she was looking forward to working with Walz, and appreciated “her for throwing her hat in the ring.”
In a news release, Walz said that “while this isn’t the result we hoped for, I am so proud of the campaign we ran.”
“I will do whatever I can to support Angela in bringing people together to enact real progress on those issues and more to make our neighborhood a stronger, safer place for everyone,” Walz said.
People at Clay’s party erupted in whoops and cheers as updated counts to the mayoral race showed Brandon Johnson in the lead.
Throughout the campaign, Clay and Walz sought to portray each other as being at the opposite ends of the political spectrum. In the runoff, Clay’s campaign described Walz, who works in government affairs for Walgreens, as a corporate insider. Walz and outside groups supporting her campaign painted Clay as a “radical” in favor of defunding the Chicago Police Department.
In February’s crowded six-way contest, Clay finished with 36% of the vote to Walz’s 26%. Previous aldermanic elections to represent Uptown and a portion of Lakeview have traditionally been nail-biters: Cappleman was pushed into runoffs in both the 2015 and 2019 elections and won only by narrow margins.
A housing organizer with endorsements from progressive elected officials and organizations including the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Clay said police are part of the city’s public safety solution, but that she wanted to see more resources dedicated to the social safety net.
Walz, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley who was backed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and several state lawmakers, said she wanted to see police patrols boosted, but agreed with Clay on the need for more funding for mental health and homelessness. She has benefited from more than $150,000 in spending by outside super PACs supporting her and opposing Clay.
Clay’s victory increases the number of Democratic socialists on the council from six to seven.