2023 Election Calendar Illinois

2023 Election Calendar Illinois – A series of candidates backed by progressive political organizations and unions in contested Democratic primaries across the Chicago area scored a string of victories last month.

That electoral success could complicate efforts by moderate Democrats and Republicans to turn progressive support for criminal justice reform into a commitment in the 2023 Chicago mayoral and City Council elections.

2023 Election Calendar Illinois

Six of the seven candidates endorsed by United Working Families, a political organization closely associated with the Chicago Teachers Union, won their primaries, including the Illinois House and Senate races, as well as two Cook County races, including Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi's successful run for the Democratic nomination in his bid for re-election.

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The victory of state Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, in the Democratic primary to represent the 3rd Congressional District could provide a template for progressive candidates seeking to defeat Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has fiercely resisted efforts to cut funding for the Chicago Police Department and called for more persons accused of crimes are held without bail.

"The reality is that voters wanted holistic solutions to crime and violence," Ramirez told WTTW after her victory. "People want bold progressives who are accountable to the people."

Despite facing a barrage of attacks from Chicago Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) and outside groups that called for the Chicago Police Department to be abolished in the summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd, Ramirez earned roughly 66% of the vote in the June 28 election, according to unofficial results.

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The newly created congressional district, drawn to represent a majority of Latino Democratic voters, included part of DuPage County, once a solid Republican stronghold that is now going Democratic. Although many observers expected Ramirez to struggle in suburbs like Wheaton, she won 67% of the DuPage vote, according to unofficial results from the DuPage County Clerk's office.

"We demonstrated that we can win in the suburbs without moving to the right," said Ramirez, who will face Justin Burau, the Republican candidate, in the November general election.

While Ramirez faced signs calling her "Defund Delia," her campaign focused on Villegas' vote to support Lightfoot's decision to use $281.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to cover the cost of employee salaries and benefits. police in Chicago during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Villegas was the leader of the Lightfoot City Council.

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Ramirez's campaign also highlighted her work in the Illinois House to pass legislation extending the state's moratorium on evictions while offering millions of dollars in aid to those at risk of homelessness.

In addition, Ramirez campaigned on her direct conflict with Lightfoot over legislation to allow Chicagoans to elect members of the Chicago Board of Education, which has consisted of a mayor since 1995. While Lightfoot campaigned for mayor in support of an elected school board in 2019, she opposed the plan that was eventually passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Progressive groups are likely to focus not only on Lightfoot's flip-flop on the elected school board, but also on her opposition to major cuts to the police force, as well as her refusal to reopen public mental health clinics closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel during the 2023 campaign.

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"The lesson from this race is the unstoppable power of grassroots organizing" combined with a candidate with a "visionary agenda at the top," Tai said. "That's a recipe for success."

A $1.7 billion cut to the Chicago Police Department's budget would put Chicagoans' lives at risk and threaten the city's economy by hurting businesses and lowering property values, Lightfoot said.

Two major candidates who have already announced plans to run for mayor in 2023 are challenging Lightfoot from the left — activist Ja'Mal Green and state Rep. Kam Buckner — while businessman Willie Wilson, CPS CEO Paul Vallas and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) is running as a conservative in a nominally nonpartisan race.

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Buckner told WTTW that he and Ramirez are part of "a new generation of political leaders coming to the fore" who will offer new solutions without dividing Chicago's neighborhoods.

Ramirez ran atop a slate of candidates backed by United Working Families, whose leaders have deployed the resources of a coalition of progressive groups to create a network of volunteers who will go door-to-door in their communities. Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, also co-chairs the group.

Tai organized a $1.4 million independent campaign in support of Ramirez's bid for Congress, which was backed by leaders of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D- New York.

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The organization — which has been a consistent thorn in Lightfoot's side since her 2019 election victory — also helped Anthony Quezada defeat Cook County Commissioner Luis Arroyo, Jr. (8th District) in the Democratic primary of that race. No Republican or Libertarian candidates ran in their parties' primaries in that contest.

"We live in a progressive community," said Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th ward), dean of the five-member Club of Democratic Socialists of the City Council.

Ramirez Rosa also championed Quezada's run for the Cook County Board, where he will be the first Democratic Socialist member of the board if elected in November. Quezada, a Democratic alderman for the 35th Ward, got his start as part of United Neighbors of the 35th Ward, which was started by Ramirez Rosa.

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Those victories are the result of years of intense political organizing centered on Chicago's Northwest Side that has changed the terms of the debate on issues such as affordable housing, funding for Chicago Public Schools and the proper role of Chicago police, Tai said.

"This is a multi-year political project to wrest power from those who have under-invested and over-controlled our communities," Tai said.

John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, which represents rank-and-file officers in the Chicago Police Department, vowed to transform the police union into a political force to be reckoned with after the passage of criminal justice reform legislation and mandates designed to force Chicago officers to are vaccinated against COVID-19.

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Despite the efforts of the police union, Democratic voters rejected almost all candidates who criticized the criminal justice reform bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly after Floyd's murder. That law would eliminate cash bail in 2023, require police to intervene if another officer uses excessive force and create a process for decertifying police.

The police union endorsed the slate of candidates and gave $50,000 to a newly created political action committee called United Working Taxpayers, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The union has backed Erin Jones, a detective with the Chicago Police Department, in her bid to unseat state Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, who voted in favor of the criminal justice reform bill. Martwick, who had the support of nearly every other union in the Illinois 10th District Democratic primary, won approximately 66% of the vote.

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In the 19th district of the Illinois House, the police union endorsed Tina Wallace, a small business owner, over Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, for LaPointe to win 75% of the vote in the Democratic primary. In the 6th district of the Illinois House, the police union endorsed Carolyn Crump, a Chicago police detective. Crump lost to state Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, who won 71% of the vote.

"We're trying and winning with candidates who aren't afraid to question police spending," Tai said. "The FOP has failed miserably."

Ramirez actually won two races on January 28th. She was also elected chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee, defeating Iris Martinez, the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk. Martinez campaigned with Catanzaro and supported many of the same candidates the police union supported. Ramirez will now have a say in how the Illinois Democratic Party operates.

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Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) said it was a miscalculation by moderate Democrats like Martinez to respond to the surge in violence during the pandemic by supporting so-called "tough on crime" measures and seeking the support of the Chicago police union.

"It didn't resonate," said Rodriguez Sanchez, who championed legislation that would cut funding for the Chicago Police Department and increase funding for mental health treatment and social services. "It was a landslide."

With all votes now counted in the June primary, much of the political focus in Chicago will turn to the 2023 election, with Lightfoot's bid to become the first woman to be re-elected mayor of Chicago at the top of the list. All 50 aldermen are also up for re-election, along with the city clerk and city treasurer.

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"We will require a mayor who will implement criminal justice reforms and real public safety solutions," Ramirez said.

United Working Families will follow the template they used to help elect Ramirez by assembling a coalition of progressive groups, community organizations and labor unions that can get behind a single candidate to stand up to Lightfoot and conservative challengers, Tai said.

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