Close runoff races in Chicago wards: Garza, Pope split 50/50
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Ballots were still being counted almost 24 hours after the polls closed on Election Day. Many Chicago aldermen were voted out of office in heated runoffs, and at least one race is still too close to call.
There were 12 incumbent runoffs for Chicago City Council. Five aldermen lost their seats on March 7, 2015, while the 10th district race is too close to call. Just a handful of votes separate Alderman John Pope and Susan Sadlowski Garza.
Challenger Garza was up seven votes over Pope when the polls closed, but that was before ballots cast in one precinct with a scanner problem had been counted. As of Wednesday afternoon, Garza was up 54 votes.
"We're looking good. We still want to make sure we get all the numbers in," Carl Camacho, Garza campaign manager, said.
It's too soon to ring the bells of triumph because there are still absentees to be counted on Thursday.
"We say wait until tomorrow. You're going to be very surprised at the outcome of these results," Hanah Jubeth, Pope spokesperson, said.
If Pope fails, he would join a number of other incumbent aldermen looking for a new line of work. Natasha Holmes, Lona Lane, Mary O'Connor, and most notably Ray Suarez, who was in office more than two decades and so-called "vice mayor," are all allies of the newly re-elected Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"People in those wards we are looking at are saying we've been clamoring for change, we haven't seen it, so we'll send a message through the alderman," Ald. Scott Waguespack, Ward 32, said.
City council progressives see the incumbent runoff losses as a rebuke of mayoral policies. Despite the re-elected mayor's pledge to be a better listener, his sometimes foes on the council say he should not miss the message from yesterday.
"I would hope that the neighborhoods get more attention, especially when it comes to public safety," Ald. Ricardo Munoz, Ward 22, said.
"I think it does embolden a lot of us to say we've got to continue in the direction we're going," Waguespack said.
The final makeup of Chicago City Council awaits the final count of absentees ballots on Thursday.
