City Council To Have At Least Eight New Aldermen After Tuesday's Election
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's not just the race for mayor tomorrow as residents of all 50 wards will vote for alderman.
At least 8 of the 50 aldermen will be new due to vacancies, deaths or remaps.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports there are likely to be several more, arguably leading to the biggest shake-up in City Council in decades.
There will definitely be new aldermen in the 2nd Ward, where mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti was remapped out of office, and in the 36th Ward, where Nick Sposato was also remapped.
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In the 38th Ward Tim Cullerton is retiring.
The 15th, 16th and 17th Wards on the South Side are all open.
The historic home to mayors, the 11th Ward in Bridgeport, is open due to Jim Balcer's retirement, as is the 24th on the West Side.
The battleground wards include the 26th in Humboldt Park, the 33rd, where Deb Mell is facing a tough fight, the 35th, Lincoln Park's 43rd, the North Side's 46th, the South Side 7th Ward, in flux since Sandi Jackson stepped down, and the 10th, the old Vrdolyak ward on the Southeast Side.
In the 7th ward, Natasha Holmes, Mayor Emanuel's handpicked successor to Sandi Jackson, has seven challengers including Keiana Barrett, Jackson's former chief of staff.
In the 10th Ward, Alderman John Pope is facing a stiff challenge funded by the Chicago Teachers Union, whose candidate is Susan Sadlowski Garza, the daughter of famed steelworkers' leader Ed Sadlowski.
There's a six-candidate free for all in the 2nd Ward, with Daley ally Brian Hopkins, Alyx Pattison, a former aide to congressman Jan Schakowsky, and newcomer Bita Buenrostro, considered favorites.
There is big money to be spent in the alderman races, most of it raised by the mayor's political action committee Chicago Forward to reward aldermen who vote with him while punishing his opponents, though much of the money is being held in reserve for the runoffs.
