By Lizz Giordano and Sarah Kramer<\/p>\n
Political newcomer Sue Sadlowski Garza <\/a>forced incumbent Ald. John Pope<\/a> into a runoff to defend his 10th Ward Chicago City Council seat after a campaign that split the field between grassroots movements.<\/p>\n With 35 of 36 precincts reporting, Pope had garnered just 45 percent of the vote, shy of the 50 percent plus one vote threshold required for the incumbent to avoid a runoff challenge.<\/p>\n Voters overwhelmingly approved a non-binding referendum to ban the storage of petroleum coke, or pet coke, in their neighborhoods. Opposition candidates including Garza stressed that Pope had allowed the black dust piles of pet coke stocks to linger on the Southeast Side while job growth had languished and storefronts remain shuttered.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t even buy a book in this neighborhood,\u201d Garza said. \u201cWe\u2019ve become the forgotten stepchild of the city.\u201d Garza, a school counselor at Jane Addams Elementary School on the 10th Ward, built her campaign on strenuous objection to pet coke storage in her neighborhood.<\/p>\n