Clare Lane: All eyes are on the mayor's race ahead of next Tuesday's municipal election in Chicago, but at the Ward level, there's 15 open aldermanic races, including four wards where the incumbent was appointed by mayor Lori Lightfoot. For some voters, it's the first time in a decade where they've got a wide field of candidates to choose from. WBEZ's Claudia Morell highlights one of those races: the 43rd Ward on the north lakefront.

Claudia Morell: For Steven McClellan the day starts early.

Steven McClellan: I'm talking about waking up every day, 5:30 a.m.

Claudia Morell: McClellan runs an after school program at Francis Parker, a private school in Lincoln Park. He's also a member of the local school counsel at LaSalle Academy. It's his second attempt at the seat. In these past couple of months, he's been spending his mornings and nights canvassing the ward. Though this election is coming at a time when the political culture of what it means to be an alderman is changing, Mcclelland highlights his experience in the community hoping to be the kind of ally aldermen this ward isn't used to.

Steven McClellan: Like, I know how to help neighbors achieve what it is that they want to achieve. You want an alley to be repaved? Come talk to me, I've already done it. You want to add some green space to the neighborhood? Come talk to me, I've already done it. Do you want to have programs in schools? Come talk to me, I've already done it.

Claudia Morell: McClellan is one of six candidates to represent 43, one of the whitest wealthiest and most politically active wards in the city. It's also shaping up to be the most expensive ward race, thanks to one self funding candidate who has been flooding the ward with mailers. McClelland interrupts our interview to chat with a couple walking their dog. 

Steven McClellan: Hey guys, I'm Stephen McClelland. I'm running for aldermen in the neighborhood, the 43rd Ward, so here's a little bit of my info. Thank you guys. If I can ask you one  quick question. Number one concern and how do you see your next alderperson prioritizing the neighborhood?

Claudia Morell: It's public safety. The one issue all candidates agree is most pressing. Brian Comer is President of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association and the chosen candidate of the Chicago Tribune. At a recent campaign event, Comer told the small crowd, the top three issues in the ward are public safety, public safety, public safety.

Brian Comer: The perfect example, the Dakota Early shooting in May. That happened three and a half blocks from my house. And I tell people that is the most gruesome crime that has happened on the West Side of Lincoln Park in the 48 years that I've been walking around.

Claudia Morell: For some, like Wendi Taylor Nations, the issue of crime is personal. She says one day in 2021 she was at the L-stop on Armitage — on her way to work –– when she was assaulted.

Wendi Taylor Nations: And I had a long, flowy dress on and a man was walking up behind me and put his hand up my skirt and into my underwear. I've lived in this ward for almost 30 years and I've never experienced crime. 

Claudia Morell: Nations says it's one of the first issues voters bring up.

Wendi Taylor Nations: I'm afraid to walk my dog. I don't go in the park at night anymore. I just make my children stand in front of my house. I don't let them go down the street. Those are the things that I'm hearing.

Claudia Morell: All of the candidates have their own plans to curb the recent spike in crime, from giving new police recruits perks like having the ability to live outside the city limits, to incentivizing retired cops to come back to the force. But the current alderman, Timmy Knudeson, says it all boils down to relationships with the local commander,

Timmy Knudeson: That's something you have to invest in daily. Um, so we talk all the time and that's a huge value add when this ward has an alderman with those strong relationships.

Claudia Morell: Knudeson is fairly new to the job. He was appointed to the seat last fall by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to finish out the term of Michele Smith who was first elected in 2011. Seventeen people, including three current candidates and Knudeson, applied for the seat. And he is walking a tight rope: highlighting the experience he gained as the interim alderman while stressing his independence. 

Timmy Knudeson: Look I think this is an exciting race no matter what. I am the youngest person on Chicago city council. I'm the first gay alderman from the 43rd Ward. A lot of these aldermanic seats have been held for quite a long time by people, so there is this shift. We are seeing a new generation coming in. And quite frankly, I am excited to lead it. 

Claudia Morell: This was one of those rare instances where the incumbent didn’t actually handpick their successor. In fact, Smith has been actively campaigning against Knudeson. Last week she and her predecessor sent out an email saying there’s a real threat to the ward’s independence and tradition of transparency if he's elected to the seat.

Michele Smith: We feel very strongly about the traditions that’ve been set up in the 43rd Ward. Wanted to give him a chance and then things happened that began to worry me.

Claudia Morell: Smith says she found his relationships with the developer community troubling — like taking money from Sterling Bay — the developer behind the massive Lincoln Yards project. Smith has endorsed Wendi Taylor Nations and is actively campaigning for her. There have been other endorsements in this race, including from the police union. They’re backing Steve Botsford, who is in commercial real estate. But Botsford said that endorsement hasn’t come with any financial support. Having worked on Capitol Hill for a congressman from California, Botsford is one of those rare candidates who thinks aldermen shouldn’t be limited to issues within the confines of their ward.

Steve Botsford: Personally, I'm more interested in, in trying to be a legislative voice. I think the city needs some big changes, I think, you know, I think for the city to advance and to continue to get, to get better. I think the whole city is going to need to get better as a whole. I don't think it's just like a 43rd Ward thing. 

Claudia Morell: For him, it’s all about economic development.

Steve Botsford: Everyone calls Chicago the second city. It kind of bugs me. I want to drop that nickname. And so I want to come for New York, I want to come for San Fran, I want to come for LA. And I think Chicago should be the economic growth engine for the country.

Claudia Morell: His views may be modern, but he still relies on the old school approach of walking door to door. And that’s because of Rebecca Jannowits, the self funded candidate who has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on mailers that’ve been hitting mailboxes on the daily. She’s even spent money running campaign ads on CNN and NBC. She’s a former staffer for Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, back when she was just an alderman representing Hyde Park. And to her opponents who say she’s spending an outrageous amount of money, she says so what.

Rebecca Jannowits: I earned all that money. It didn’t fall from the heavens and I didn’t inherit it from somebody. Capitalism is like that. Some things pay off and some things don’t. That’s the context that we work in.

Claudia Morell: Early voting is underway. If no one gets the majority next Tuesday, 50% plus one, the top two head to a runoff in April. Claudia Morell, WBEZ News

WBEZ transcripts are generated by an automatic speech recognition service. We do our best to edit for misspellings and typos, but mistakes do come through.