George A. Cardenas (born October 9, 1964) was Alderman of the 12th Ward of the City of Chicago. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he was elected to his first term on 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 ...

in 2003. He was elected commissioner of the 1st district of the

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which in ...

in the 2022 election, and subsequently resigned from the City Council.

Early life

Cardenas was born i
Santiago Papasquiaro
Durango, in the mountains of northern Mexico. Cardenas and his family moved to Chicago in 1978 where he attended

Lane Tech High School In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

. After graduation, he joined the

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for four years. He earned his bachelor's degree from

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

and went on to work as an auditor and a substitute teacher in public schools. Cardenas later became a tax and business consultant and went back to school to earn his master's degree in political science from

Election

Cardenas first ran for alderman in 2003. Cardenas was supported by the powerful

Hispanic Democratic Organization The Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) was a political action committee (PAC) officially started in 1993. History HDO was created by Tim Degnan, Victor Reyes, and Al Sanchez in 1993 to assist Richard M. Daley win his first mayoral election. ...

, a group with strong ties to Chicago Mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

. In a 3-way race in February 2003, Cardenas and incumbent Alderman Ray Frias were the top two vote-getters, but neither earned a majority, forcing a run-off election scheduled for April 2003. Frias withdrew his candidacy prior to the run-off, cancelling the run-off, and leaving Cardenas as the winner.

Aldermanic career

Cardenas has won reelection in 2007, 2011,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Cardenas currently serves as the City Council Deputy Floor Leader and Chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy. He is also a member of eight committees: Committees, Rules & Ethics; Finance, Budget, Contracting Oversight and Equity, Economic Capital and Technology Development, Immigrant and Refugee Rights, License and Consumer Protection and Pedestrian and Traffic Safety. In 2006, Cardenas lost to Ald.

Ricardo Muñoz Ricardo Muñoz is a former member of the Chicago City Council, having served as alderman for the 22nd ward, which includes Little Village and Archer Heights. Muñoz was appointed to this position by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1993 and served unt ...

in the race for state central committeeman for Illinois' 4th Congressional District, a Democratic Party post. In the runoff of the

2019 Chicago mayoral election The 2019 Chicago mayoral election was the 2019 edition of the quadrennial elections held to determine the Mayor of the City of Chicago, Illinois. The election was held on February 26, 2019. Since no candidate received a majority of votes, a run ...

, Cardenas endorsed

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 ...

. Cardenas served as a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United ...

to the

2012 Democratic National Convention The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Presid ...

Cook County Board of Review

He was elected commissioner of the 1st district of the

in the 2022 election, and subsequently resigned from the City Council to assume his seat.

Professional career

Before joining government, Cardenas accumulated over a decade of experience working for Fortune 500 companies, including Centel Corporation, McDonald's Corporation, Andersen Worldwide, Tenneco Corporation, Ameritech/SBC Corporation.

Personal life

Cardenas lives with his wife and three daughters in McKinley Park.

Electoral history

Cook County Board of Commissioners

Democratic state committeeman

References

External links

Ald. Cardenas' Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardenas, George 1964 births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Mexican descent Chicago City Council members Illinois Democrats Living people Northeastern Illinois University alumni Mexican-American people in Illinois politics