{"id":54287,"date":"2017-03-07T19:34:15","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T01:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=54287"},"modified":"2017-03-07T19:34:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T01:34:15","slug":"obama-endorsed-alderman-holds-seat-in-special-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/obama-endorsed-alderman-holds-seat-in-special-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama-endorsed alderman holds seat in special election"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Derek Robertson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alderman Sophia King of the 4th Ward won a special election for the office last Tuesday, her first appearance on the ballot since her appointment by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in April of last year.<\/p>\n

King received 63 percent of the vote, well above the threshold of 50 percent required to avoid a runoff election. She faced four opponents united in criticizing her ties to Emanuel, but her closest runner-up, real estate attorney Ebony Lucas, captured only 17 percent of the nearly 7,000 ballots cast.<\/p>\n

In a ward that covers portions of seven diverse neighborhoods and has over 36,000 registered voters, Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen described turnout as comparable to other off-year contests.
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s definitely better than the worse turnouts we\u2019ve seen. Special elections with only one office on them tend to be overlooked by the vast majority of voters \u2013 we\u2019ve seen turnouts as low as 13 or even 10 percent in some of these single-office special elections,\u201d Allen said the day after the special election.<\/p>\n

He added that Chicago still has some of the highest turnout in the nation on average, and that last Tuesday\u2019s race was no exception.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Turnout of] 19 percent is nothing to brag about by any stretch, but it still will likely be higher than what you see in other municipal elections across the area on April 4 in the suburbs and downstate,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Emanuel selected King last year to replace former Alderman Will Burns, who left the office to take a position with Airbnb. King, a longtime Kenwood resident, formerly served as president of the Kenwood Park Advisory Council as well as having founded Harriet\u2019s Daughters, a non-profit focused on African-American employment.<\/p>\n

In addition to those credentials, King touted in her election bid the endorsement of Kenwood\u2019s most famous resident \u2013 former President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

During the campaign King frequently asserted her independence from Obama\u2019s former chief of staff, however, saying in an interview<\/a> with the University of Chicago\u2019s the Gate that \u201c[She has] no fear of Rahm Emanuel.\u201d King joined the City Council\u2019s Progressive Caucus in December, a group of 11 aldermen who find themselves more often than not in opposition to the mayor who served as her patron.<\/p>\n

Don Rose, longtime political consultant and campaign manager to reformist former Mayor Jane Byrne, described how King can maintain both her progressive credentials and her independence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that both Rahm and his predecessor did was give some deference to the outgoing alderman or the ward committeeman, and so it is possible that she could wind up being a progressive \u2013 and she more or less has to in that district or else she won\u2019t last very long,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n

Rose also referenced what\u2019s likely to be King\u2019s first major challenge after her election \u2013 the city\u2019s upcoming choice of a developer for the 114-acre former site of Bronzeville\u2019s Michael Reese Hospital. He predicted the community will take sides shortly after the announcement, with most favoring housing or mixed retail development over a proposed but blocked plan to build a casino on the site.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the Progressive Caucus affirmed King\u2019s independence, praising her for her support during last year\u2019s airport workers\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlderman King has demonstrated a strong and independent track record in office so far, and it\u2019s clear that she\u2019s not beholden to any particular political patron, which is why we were excited to have her join the caucus,\u201d Joanna Klonsky said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Both King and the mayor will seek re-election in 2019. An announcement is expected on the Michael Reese Hospital site on April 6.<\/p>\n

The 4th Ward’s Kenwood Academy, where a candidates’ forum was held on Feb. 4 before the aldermanic election. (By TonyTheTiger (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Derek Robertson Alderman Sophia King of the 4th Ward won a special election for the office last Tuesday, her first appearance on the ballot since her appointment by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in April of last year. King received 63 percent of the vote, well above the threshold of 50 percent required to avoid a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":54288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nObama-endorsed alderman holds seat in special election - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/obama-endorsed-alderman-holds-seat-in-special-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obama-endorsed alderman holds seat in special election - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Derek Robertson Alderman Sophia King of the 4th Ward won a special election for the office last Tuesday, her first appearance on the ballot since her appointment by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in April of last year. 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