{"id":76983,"date":"2019-03-02T13:48:32","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T19:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=76983"},"modified":"2019-03-02T13:48:32","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T19:48:32","slug":"a-moment-bigger-than-a-campaign-33rd-ward-aldermanic-candidate-rossana-rodriguez-sanchez-heads-into-a-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/a-moment-bigger-than-a-campaign-33rd-ward-aldermanic-candidate-rossana-rodriguez-sanchez-heads-into-a-runoff\/","title":{"rendered":"A moment bigger than a campaign: 33rd Ward Aldermanic Candidate Rossana Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez heads into a runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Justin Agrelo<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

At a watch party on election night in the back room of Chief O\u2019Niell\u2019s pub in Avondale, a group of nearly 100 people wait.<\/p>\n

Live music from a local youth band fills the room as people socialize, drinks in their hands and enthusiasm in the air. Like many other watch parties throughout Chicago\u2019s 50 wards on Tuesday night, this group intently waits on a candidate and an announcement.<\/p>\n

The candidate who brought them all together is Rossana Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez,\u00a0 a youth educator who is running to become the next alderman of the 33rd<\/sup> Ward.<\/p>\n

Arriving just before 9 p.m., Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez, 39, is greeted with cheers, applause, and hugs. With a smile across her face and tears in her eyes, she slowly makes her way towards the front of a small stage tucked in the corner of the room. She greets everyone on her way.<\/p>\n

Then she dances.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

People crowd around her, laughing, cheering, clapping, and dancing too. And yet, no one seems as excited as Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez herself, unable to keep a smile off of her face.<\/p>\n

\"33rd
33rd Ward Aldermanic candidate, Rossana Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez smiles jubilantly at her watch party on election night. Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez is heading into a run-off election\u00a0 April 2. (Justin Agrelo\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Longtime friend and former co-worker, Benjamin Serrano, hops on stage to remind Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez and her room of supporters that they all have a lot to be happy about on this cold Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have come so far in this fight to come to this point,\u201d Serrano says. He has been with her campaign since the beginning. \u201cI am proud to announce that, with 92 percent [of the precinct votes reported] Rossana Rodriguez is in the lead!\u201d<\/p>\n

She has 42 percent of the vote<\/a>, beating two other candidates.<\/p>\n

The crowd breaks into a loud applause, realizing she is headed to a runoff with incumbent Deborah (Deb) Mell on April 2.<\/p>\n

Serrano calls Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez on stage and hands her the mic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of being a leader is I should know what to say,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez says before laughing. \u201cThere are so many things in my heart right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez migrated to the U.S. in 2009 amid the island\u2019s growing economic and debt crisis. She has lived in Albany Park\u2014a community that is part of the 33rd<\/sup> ward\u2014ever since. A community activist and former Director for the Albany Park Theatre company, Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez is seeking to unseat the ward\u2019s longtime incumbent Deb Mel, who has close ties to Chicago\u2019s Democratic Machine.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez applauds her supporters and highlights the significance of the current moment.<\/p>\n

\"Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez
Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez is all smiles as she poses with a group of supporters at her election night watch party on February 26th, 2019. (Justin Agrelo\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are in the first runoff since the 1930s in the 33rd<\/sup> Ward with a Latina running in a ward that is 52 percent Latinx,\u201d she says. \u201cWe just hammered the machine!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez says her campaign has been in the making for decades, citing the history of community and activism her campaign organizers have had in Chicago. Some of them, according to Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez, helped start the DREAMer Movement.<\/p>\n

She describes the campaign as \u201cthe legacy\u201d of these leftist activists. \u201cThis campaign is an example of what we can do together if the Left comes together,\u201d she says \u201cand what does it look like? It looks like we can f***ing win!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez
Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez hugs campaign manager Chris Poulos after learning her campaign is heading into April’s runoff election with a majority of the votes. (Justin Agrelo\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez is one of five socialist<\/a> candidates who could potentially join the City Council this spring. Two of them have already won their spots and three, including Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez, are headed into runoff elections.<\/p>\n

She tells the crowd that she couldn\u2019t have done it alone, \u201cWe know that when we get that seat, that seat is for all of us. We are the people and we are getting an office for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She re-centers everything they\u2019re fighting for as she speaks: a livable wage, jobs with benefits, fully funded neighborhood schools, mental health services, and a \u201cf***ing public health approach to safety because we are not just going to continue to just throw the police at people of color in this city!\u201d she says. \u201cWe can smell and we can taste what a city for the many is going to be like. It\u2019s so close.”<\/p>\n

Photo at top:\u00a0Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez addresses her room of supporters after learning that she is heading into a run-off election in April. (Justin Agrelo\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Justin Agrelo Medill Reports At a watch party on election night in the back room of Chief O\u2019Niell\u2019s pub in Avondale, a group of nearly 100 people wait. Live music from a local youth band fills the room as people socialize, drinks in their hands and enthusiasm in the air. Like many other watch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":76985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2951,30,675,4559],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-76983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-politicsnational-security","category-public-affairs","category-social-justice","category-winter-2019","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nA moment bigger than a campaign: 33rd Ward Aldermanic Candidate Rossana Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez heads into a runoff - 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\/a-moment-bigger-than-a-campaign-33rd-ward-aldermanic-candidate-rossana-rodriguez-sanchez-heads-into-a-runoff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A moment bigger than a campaign: 33rd Ward Aldermanic Candidate Rossana Rodr\u00edguez-S\u00e1nchez heads into a runoff - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Justin Agrelo Medill Reports At a watch party on election night in the back room of Chief O\u2019Niell\u2019s pub in Avondale, a group of nearly 100 people wait. 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