Angela Clay wins in 46th Ward
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Community activist and Uptown native Angela Clay won the race City Council in the 46th Ward Tuesday night.
Clay was facing Kim Walz – a former aide to U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and now an executive for Walgreens. With all precincts reporting, Clay had 56 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for Walz.
Walz issued a statement conceding Tuesday night, reading in part: "I want to congratulate Angela Clay for her victory in the race for 46th Ward Alderwoman. While this isn't the result we hoped for, I am so proud of the campaign we ran. It has been an honor to meet with residents throughout this campaign to share my vision for moving the ward forward without leaving anyone behind."
The ward includes most of the Uptown community and also parts of Lakeview. Current Ald. James Cappleman announced back in July that he would not be running for another term.
Clay and Walz both spoke with CBS 2's Marie Saavedra. Clay said organizing and activism has been part of her life since a very young age – and she now wants to represent her community in the City Council.
"This is a dream come true, honestly. I am running in the ward that raised me. My family has lived here for over 80 years. It's been in my blood since a teenager – I've been organizing since I was 14 years old on behalf and with neighbors from all walks of life," she said, "and I really wanted to make sure that we had a leader who embodied this community; who had a love for bringing so many voices together to make positive change, and making history together."
Clay said public safety is a major issue for the ward – and solutions are needed, including ensuring the community has relationships with police officers, and investing in young people. She said focusing on mental health, education, and housing are also crucial components for her plan to improve public safety.
Housing is also a top priority in the ward, Clay said.
Walz emphasized that people no longer feel safe in the 46th Ward.
"We need to work to make sure we're not only dealing with long-term solutions to public safety such as violence prevention and investing in communities – but we have to deal with the short-term public safety crisis. And that means we have to fill vacant positions in the Police Department, and get police back out on the street having connections with their neighborhood," she said.
Walz said it is to the point where people no longer feel safe walking to a grocery store at noon on a Saturday. She charged that Clay supports defunding the police – as Walz's campaign has in attack ads showing a past soundbite in which Clay says, "Defunding the police is going to happen."