Chicago Mayoral Election 2023

Chicago Runoff Elections Could Occur in These Races for Mayor and City Council

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While most of the attention in the Chicago election season has been on the mayoral race, more than a dozen City Council seats remain up for grabs, and will be decided in a runoff later this spring.

As things stand now, there would be runoffs in 13 City Council races and the Chicago mayoral race, while 1st ward Ald. Daniel La Spata has likely fended off a possible head-to-head race in his election.

Runoff elections in Chicago occur when a candidate fails to receive a majority of the votes cast, exceeding 50%.

La Spata is potentially going to avoid a runoff by a margin of just 26 votes, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.

There are still some mail-in ballots left outstanding. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted if they are received by March 14, according to CBOE.

As things stand, 42,616 vote-by-mail ballots have not yet been received, with 1,034 ballots that are still being processed, meaning that there could be slight fluctuations to these numbers.

Here’s where things stand as of the last vote refresh on Wednesday:

Mayoral Race

Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas earned just under 33% of the vote in the mayoral election, and he will face Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who beat incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot by more than 27,000 votes.

Vallas leads Johnson in the first poll of the runoff season, and the two candidates squared off in a televised forum on Wednesday.

Chicago's top two candidates for mayor went head-to-head in their first forum ahead of the runoff election set for April. Lisa Chavarria has the highlights.

Ward 1:

It does appear that Ald. Daniel La Spata will avoid a runoff, as he has upped his vote total to 50.09%. He is just 26 votes above the threshold that would trigger a runoff in the race against Sam Royko.

There are still 1,663 vote-by-mail ballots that have not yet been returned in this race.

Ward 4:

Lamont Robinson is comfortably in the runoff, but did not get enough votes to avoid a second challenge. Prentice Butler has extended his lead over Ebony Lucas to 102 votes for the second spot in that runoff. This race will determine the replacement for Ald. Sophia King, who finished eighth in the Chicago mayoral race.

Ward 5:

Desmon Yancy will face off against Martina Hone in a runoff in this ward, with the winner replacing Ald. Leslie Hairston.

For the first time since they secured spots in the April 4 runoff election, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will meet in a televised forum hosted by NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago on Wednesday, March 8.

Ward 6:

Richard Wooten and William Hall will square off in the April 4 runoff as they aim to replace Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

Ward 10:

In the race to replace Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, Peter Chico and Ana Guajardo have advanced to a runoff.

Ward 11:

Ald. Nicole Lee, appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, will face a runoff challenge from Anthony Ciaravino.

Ward 21:

Ronnie Mosley will face Cornell Dantzler in the runoff election on April 4, with the winner replacing Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.

Ward 24:

Ald. Monique Scott fell short of her bid to avoid a runoff, and she will face Creative Scott, who edged out Vetress Boyce by 154 votes.

There are just 364 mail-in ballots that have not yet been returned in the ward, according to CBOE data.

Ward 30:

Jessica Gutierrez will face Ruth Cruz in a runoff in this race, with the latter candidate edging out Warren Williams for a spot in the contest to replace Ald. Ariel Reboyras.

For the first time since they secured spots in the April 4 runoff election, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson faced off in a televised forum hosted by NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago.

Ward 36:

Ald. Gilbert Villegas received just under 46.5% of the vote, and as a result he’ll face Leonor Torres Whitt in the April runoff.

Ward 43:

Ald. Timmy Knudsen received just under 27% of the vote, and will face Brian Comer in the April runoff to retain his City Council seat.

Ward 45:

Ald. Jim Gardiner will also face a runoff election, facing Megan Mathias in that race.

Ward 46:

Angela Clay and Kim Walz are set to square off in this runoff, with the latter candidate beating out Marianne Lalonde for the spot in an election to replace Ald. James Cappleman.

Ward 48:

Joe Dunne and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth earned spots in this runoff to replace Ald. Harry Osterman.

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