CHICAGO — Leaders in Chicago’s Chinatown and beyond clamored Tuesday for Mayor Lori Lightfoot to appoint an Asian-American successor to 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, whose federal tax fraud conviction this week could pave the way for the Near South Side enclave to have its first City Hall representative of Asian descent.
The day after Thompson was found guilty, state and local politicians as well as community leaders expressed that Asian Americans in the 11th Ward deserve a City Council representative from their community. They cited the likelihood of that region being remapped into Chicago’s first Asian-majority ward, as well as 2020 U.S. Census figures showing Asian Americans as the fastest-growing racial group in Chicago.
“Given the certainty that we will have a majority Asian-American ward through the remap, I think that it makes sense for the mayor to appoint somebody from the Asian-American community,” said state Rep. Theresa Mah, a Democrat who represents Chinatown and is believed to be the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, in 2016.
