Jesus "Chuy" Garcia

Ramirez-Rosa Unseats Ald. Colon in 35th Ward Upset

26-year-old Carlos Ramirez-Rosa will be the first openly gay Latino member of City Council

Tuesday's election was full of disappointments for several elected officials, including the mayor, but only one member of City Council suffered an absolute upset.

Alderman Rey Colon of the 35th ward will not be heading for a runoff. He will instead give up his seat to his opponent, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who just turned 26 last week and who will be the first openly gay Latino elected to City Council. Colon only won 33 percent of the vote, giving Ramirez-Rosa the other 67 percent.

Colon was first elected alderman of the 35th ward in 2003. With the new ward boundaries, which take effect with this election, the ward covers parts of Albany Park, Irving Park, Avondale, Logan Square and Hermosa. In the former ward boundaries, the 35th ward covered more of Logan Square but none of Albany Park.

Ramirez-Rosa aligned with mayoral candidate Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who won 57 percent of the vote in the ward. Mayor Emanuel won only 36 percent of the votes in the ward. Colon had the support of a pro-Emanual PAC, which may have aided in his defeat.

Colon gained some negative press in July when he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

While no other incumbents suffered a defeat as colossal as Colon's, 19 incumbent aldermen plus the mayor are heading into runoff elections in April.

The alderman of the 18th ward on the city's Southwest Side, Lona Lane, is heading into a runoff with opponent Derrick Curtis, who earned a handful of votes more than Lane. Each candidate took about 30 percent of the votes in the ward.

In the 7th ward, incumbent Natashia Holmes faced seven challengers and only took 25 percent of the vote for herself.

In the 16th ward, Toni Foulkes, who is the current alderman of the 15th ward, ran against three others to fill the seat of the late Ald. JoAnn Thompson, who died Feb. 9. While Foulkes was not the incumbent of this ward, she was running to win the votes of many of the same residents she won over in her former ward, whose boundaries and demographics shifted significantly with the new map. Foulkes won 44 percent of the vote and will face off against Stephanie Coleman, who won 35 percent, in an April runoff.

The runoff election will take place April 7.

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