The 2023 Chicago elections took place in two rounds on February 28, 2023, and April 4, 2023. Elections were held for

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

, City Clerk of Chicago, City Treasurer of Chicago, all 50 members of the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

, and 66 members of the newly-created police District Councils. The elections were administered by the Chicago Board of Elections.

Mayor

Incumbent Mayor

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...

ran for re-election, and faced eight challengers:

Kam Buckner Kambium Elijah "Kam" Buckner is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 26th district. The district, located entirely in the City of Chicago, includes Bronzeville, Douglas, Downtown, Gold Coast, Hyde Park, Kenwood, ...

(member of

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

), Willie Wilson (businessman and perennial candidate), Roderick Sawyer (member of the

Sophia King Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: *Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places *Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpor ...

(member of the

), Ja'Mal Green (community activist),

Paul Vallas Paul Gust Vallas (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, former CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Public ...

(former CEO of

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

Brandon Johnson Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American educator and politician serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson was elected mayor in April 2023. He previously served on the Cook County Board of Commi ...

(member of the

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the Uni ...

), and Jesus "Chuy" García (

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Illinois's 4th congressional district The 4th congressional district of Illinois includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Jesús "Chuy" García since January 2019. In November 2017, incumbent Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from Congress at ...

). Candidates who expressed interest but ultimately declined to run include

Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator who served as United States Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2008. A lifelong resident of Chicago, Du ...

(former

U.S. Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on ...

), Mike Quigley (

from Illinois's 5th congressional district), and

John Catanzara John Catanzara is an American police union leader, and former member of the Chicago Police Department. Since May 2020, Catanzara has been president of Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police. He joined the Chicago Police Department in 1995 and ...

(president of Lodge 7 of the

Fraternal Order of Police The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and the ...

). News reports suggested the following prospective candidates, who all eventually declined to run: La Shawn Ford (member of Illinois House of Representatives), Stacy Davis Gates, and Melissa Conyears-Ervin. In the first round, Vallas and Johnson won 32.9% and 21.6% of the vote respectively and advanced to the run-off election. In the run-off election on April 4, 2023, Johnson received 52.16% and Vallas received 47.84% of the vote.

City Clerk

Incumbent City Clerk Anna Valencia ran uncontested for a second full term and a third overall term. She was first appointed to office in 2017, and elected outright in 2019.

Results

City Treasurer

Incumbent City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin ran uncontested for a second full-term. She was first elected in 2019.

City Council

All 50 seats in the City Council were up for election. This was the first City Council election following redistricting based on the results of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

Police District Councils

Elections were held for 22 newly-created police district councils, one for each of the city's police districts. The district councils were created by a police reform ordinance passed in July 2021. The councils will have police oversight responsibilities within their district, and council members will nominate 14 candidates for the city-wide Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, from which seven will be selected and confirmed by the mayor and City Council.

References

External links

;Official campaign websites
Anna M. Valencia (D) for City Clerk
{{2023 United States elections Chicago elections Municipal elections in Chicago February 2023 events in the United States April 2023 events in the United States