Three wards on the Far South Side will be sending new faces to the City Council.
In the 6th Ward, Pastor William Hall won the Tuesday runoff against fellow minister Richard Wooten to replace outgoing Ald. Roderick Sawyer.
And in the Southeast Side’s 10th Ward, police Officer Peter Chico finished first over community organizer Ana Guajardo to succeed retiring Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza.
In the 21st Ward, community organizer Ronnie Mosley declared victory despite a narrow lead over retired firefighter Cornell Dantzler, who refused to concede in the runoff to replace outgoing Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.
6th Ward
Hall — backed by the Chicago Teachers Union — led with 57% of the vote over Wooten with all precincts reporting.
The ward — which includes Chatham, Park Manor and Grand Crossing — still has 1,280 mail-in ballots that haven’t been returned, which was less than the gap in votes between candidates.
“The people have spoken,” Hall told the Sun-Times. “I want to say it’s a new day in the 6th Ward. Let’s build on what we’ve got.”
Hall, pastor at St. James Community Church, greeted dozens of supporters at an election night party at the Thea Bowman Lyceum Center, 6550 S. Harvard Ave.
Hall then took a microphone and told the crowd: “Tonight we go to bed dreaming, but April 5 we get ready to go to work.”
Wooten conceded the race but had not yet called Hall, a campaign spokesman said.
Hall was endorsed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Sawyer and had reported more than $230,000 in contributions, with at least $62,000 from the CTU.
He out-raised his competitor, Wooten, who had reported $67,000 in contributions.
Hall narrowly came in first in the Feb 28 election, with about 70 more votes than Wooten, founder of Gathering Point Universal Ministries in Washington Heights and president of the Greater Chatham Alliance.
Wooten, a retired Chicago police officer, has sought the City Council seat twice before.
10th Ward
Chico led with 62% of the vote over Guajardo, with 88% of precincts reporting in the ward where Sadlowski Garza announced her retirement after two terms.
Despite being out-raised by his competitor 2-to-1, Chico still managed to gain overwhelming support in the Southeast Side ward.
Standing before supporters Tuesday night, Chico said: “What we do today, and in the next four years, is going to transform the 10th Ward forever.”
Guajardo called Chico to concede and left a voicemail congratulating him on his victory, according to her spokesperson, Josh Kilroy.
Chico is a Chicago police officer and a cousin of former Chicago Board of Education President Gery Chico. Peter Chico worked for United Way and in child welfare services before becoming a police officer.
Chico reported $136,000 in contributions, including a $10,000 donation from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and $6,500 from the Fraternal Order of Police.
Chico ran a campaign pledging to bring more police officers to the ward and to invest more in public schools, youth programs and economic development.
Guajardo, an Army National Guard veteran and founder of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, raised $298,000, mostly from labor unions, including more than $122,000 from political action committees associated with the Service Employees International Union.
21st Ward
Mosley was leading with 52.1% of the vote over Dantzler, with all precincts reporting in the 21st Ward, which covers Auburn Gresham and parts of Chatham, Roseland and Washington Heights.
Mosley led by 547 votes out of 12,927 total votes. The ward has nearly 1,600 unreturned vote-by-mail ballots.
Mosley was “calling” the race for himself, according to his spokeswoman, Ebonee Dawson.
But Dantzler was not ready to concede.
“Mr. Dantzler is not going to concede anything,” spokesman Sean Howard said Tuesday night. “We’re going to allow the absentee ballot count to move forward.”
Mosley received endorsements from Brookins, who announced his retirement after nearly 20 years. Mosley also won support from Pritzker, City Clerk Anna Valencia and Ald. Michelle Harris.
Mosley, 31, has said he’s prepared to be alderperson because he has worked in community engagement since he was 14, and he worked in the office of Ald. Harris. While campaigning, he said he’d bring resources and economic opportunities to the ward through partnerships with churches and nonprofits.
Mosley raised about $290,000, with large contributions from Pritzker and labor unions, including the CTU.
Dantzler raised more than $96,000, including more than $59,000 from the Chicago Firefighters Union.
Contributing: Michael Puente of WBEZ
