The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is called into session regularly, usually monthly, to consider ordinances, orders, and resolutions whose subject matter includes code changes, utilities, taxes, and many other issues. The Chicago City Council Chambers are located in Chicago City Hall, as are the downtown offices of the individual alderpersons and staff.
William Emmett Dever was the mayor of Chicago from 1923 to 1927. He had previously served as a judge and before that an alderman. As an alderman and judge he would work to become the Democratic candidate for mayor for over two decades.
Helen Shiller is a former Alderman of the 46th ward in Chicago, Illinois. Shiller is also a published author, having written a 500-page book on her politics and activism in Chicago from 1971 to 2011. Shiller served in the Chicago City Council for six four-year terms, from 1987 to 2011. Shiller was elected to the City Council on her third attempt, as Harold Washington, Chicago's first black Mayor, was re-elected to his second term, and her election as alderman helped close the Council Wars era in Chicago government. Shiller has been described as "a reformer unafraid to take on the boys in power." A less flattering description is that she is "committed to liberal causes and destroying all within her path". Among her most significant impacts on Chicago were her advocacy for diverse, inclusive, affordable housing and helping craft Chicago's response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Her commitment to fostering community development without displacement often brought Shiller into contention with some constituencies, real estate developers, and editorial boards. Shiller's oral history was collected by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Uptown resident Studs Terkel in his 2003 book, Hope Dies Last. As she details in her own book, among her policy victories as a City Council member was: getting human rights legislation passed, having Chicago implement anti-apartheid legislation, creating a City Council Subcommittee on Domestic Violence, and building a unique mix-used development.
Walter Burnett Jr. is an American politician who has served as the alderman for Chicago's 27th ward since his first election in 1995. The 27th ward includes the West Loop, Greektown, East Garfield Park, Near North Side, Old Town, West Humboldt Park, West Town, Goose Island and the Illinois Medical District. As of 2023 he is the vice mayor of Chicago.
Toni Lynn Preckwinkle is an American politician and the current County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the executive branch of Cook County government, in November 2010, becoming the first woman elected to that position.
Richard M. Erdall was an American politician. He was the 40th mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving for one day, on December 31, 1973; as such, he is the shortest-serving mayor of the city. Before that, he was alderman for the City's 13th Ward and the president of the Minneapolis City Council. In 1965, Erdall was elected to the Minneapolis Park Board. On January 13, 1967, he was appointed 13th Ward alderman to fill the vacancy caused by the election of John W. Johnson to the Minnesota legislature. Erdall was elected to the council in 1967 and reelected in 1969 and 1971. He was elected president of the city council on July 7, 1969, and reelected in 1971. On August 13, 1971, Erdall was ousted as president when a member of his caucus sided with the DFL to elect himself president. On January 28, 1972, Erdall was restored to the presidency, which he held until January 2, 1974. He was defeated for reelection as alderman in November 1973. The opportunity to serve as mayor arose because the incumbent mayor, Charles Stenvig, a former police inspector who had also been defeated for reelection, resigned on his final day in office to become acting Chief of Police.
The Chicago mayoral election of 1989 saw Democratic nominee Richard M. Daley win election to the remainder of an unexpired mayoral term with a 14% margin of victory. This marked a return for the Daley family to the office of mayor. Daley was elected over Alderman Timothy Evans, the nominee of the newly formed Harold Washington Party, and the Republican nominee Ed Vrdolyak.
The 2015 Chicago aldermanic elections happened on February 24, 2015, to elect the 50 Aldermen that represent Chicago in the City Council. The elections were non-partisan and if no candidate received an absolute majority, a runoff would be held between the top two finishers on April 7, 2015.
Arthur F. Albert was alderman of Chicago's 22nd ward from 1921 to 1923 and upon its redistricting into the 43rd ward from 1923 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931. He was born to German parents. A Republican who always had an independent streak, he broke with his party in 1931, unsuccessfully running for the Republican nomination in that year's mayoral election under the tutelage of Edward Litsinger and later becoming an independent.
The 1927 Chicago mayoral election was held on April 5, 1927. Democratic incumbent William Emmett Dever was defeated by Republican candidate William Hale Thompson, who had served as mayor from 1915 to 1923. John Dill Robertson, who had been previously allied with the ex-mayor, broke with Thompson to run on his own and received more than five percent of the vote. It remains as of 2023 the last Chicago mayoral election to be won by a candidate who is not a member of the Democratic Party.
Dorsey Ryan Crowe was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 21st ward from 1919 to 1923 and upon its redistricting into the 42nd ward from 1923 to his death. A Democrat serving most of the Near North Side, he represented such affluent constituencies as the Gold Coast and Streeterville as well as such poor areas as Cabrini–Green and Goose Island. At the time of his death he was the Dean of the Chicago City Council, as well as the last alderman from the era of partisan aldermanic elections and when wards elected two aldermen each. An alderman for 43 years, and the last to have served under a Republican mayor, he is as of 2018 the third-longest serving alderman in Chicago history, behind Ed Burke of the 14th ward and John Coughlin of the 1st.
Louis Bernard Anderson was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 2nd ward from 1917 to 1933. A Republican, he served most of the Douglas community area, including much of the African-American neighborhood of Bronzeville. He was a prominent ally of mayor William Hale Thompson, and served as his floor leader throughout the 1920s.
Matt Martin is an American politician who is currently serving as a member of Chicago City Council for the city's 47th ward. He won election as alderman in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. The 47th ward includes all or parts of the North Center, Lincoln Square, Lakeview, and Uptown neighborhoods.
John James Hoellen Jr. was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 47th ward from 1947 to 1975. His father, John J. Hoellen Sr., had served as alderman of that same ward from 1925 to 1933. Like his father, Hoellen was a Republican and at the time of his he left office, he had been the sole Republican member of the Chicago City Council.
Elections to the Chicago City Council were held on February 27, 1923. Candidates ran as nonpartisans, and in elections where no candidate received the majority of votes a runoff election was held between the top two finishers on April 3, the same day as the election for Mayor.
The 2019 Chicago aldermanic election took place in two rounds on February 26 and April 2, 2019, to elect 50 aldermen to the Chicago City Council. Each alderman represents one of Chicago's 50 wards. The elections are non-partisan and use a two-round system where the top two finishers compete in a second-round run-off if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round. The elections were party of the 2019 Chicago elections, which included elections for Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer.
The 1927 Chicago aldermanic election happened on February 22 to elect the 50 aldermen of the Chicago City Council, on the same day as the primary elections for the mayoral election. Candidates ran as nonpartisans, and if no candidate received a majority of votes in a given ward the top two candidates in that ward faced off in a runoff election on April 5, the same day as the general mayoral election.
Harry L. Sain was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 27th ward from 1933 to 1971. He was a longtime associate of ward committeeman John J. Touhy and a dominant figure in local Democratic politics, turning his ward into one of 11 that could be guaranteed to deliver large Democratic majorities. He long headed the Committee on Committees and Rules, which was responsible for assigning aldermen to various committees. Democratic committeeman Ed Quigley decided to replace him with African-American Eugene Ray upon taking office in 1968, by which time the 27th ward had become almost entirely African-American. In addition to his service on the City Council he served as an alternate delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention. He died of a heart attack in 1975.
Derrick G. Curtis is an American politician who has served as the alderman of Chicago's 18th ward since 2015. He became the Democratic committeeman of the ward in 2011 after Lona Lane stepped down from that position. Curtis had previously been the ward's Streets and Sanitation superintendent, with more than 25 years of experience as a precinct captain. He ran against Lane in the 2015 aldermanic race and defeated her in a runoff. He was sworn into office on May 18, 2015.
Robert Shaw was an American politician. He served as a City of Chicago Alderman in the 9th ward for two terms, first in 1979 through 1983 and again from 1987 until 1998. Shaw also served as commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review from 1998 until 2004.
