La Spata are ‘encouraged’ by a small margin in District 1 but have yet to declare victory
Freshman Aldo. Daniel La Spata (No. 1) won a small majority in his bid for re-election on Monday. This could avoid his April runoff vote for a man whose last name was once a common word in Chicago.
After the latest mail-in ballots were tallied, La Spata had 50.1% of the vote, just 12 votes above the minimum required to avoid the run-off vote against challenger Sam Royko.
It’s the latest twist in a city council election that has already seen a lot of drama, with incumbents suppressing their excitement knowing the race isn’t over yet, even though it’s been a week since election day. I was.
Democratic socialist La Spata finished first last week, but fell short of the majority at the time with just 49.22% of the votes tallied by Tuesday. Royko, the son of famous newspaper columnist Mike Royko, won second place in a four-man contest. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two will face off in his April 4th runoff vote.
However, mail-in ballots postmarked by February 28th will only be counted if received by March 14th. That means Raspata will have to hold onto a new winning margin for his next eight days.
In a text message to the Chicago Sun-Times, La Spata said he was “encouraged by the ward’s support, but remains ‘confident’ until the final votes are counted.”
Summarizing in a tweet, he called it a “mailbiter.”
Sam Royco declined to say whether he expects an unprocessed mail-in ballot to push La Spata back to the runoff. But his campaign showed a naive reaction to the latest tally.
“Votes are still being tallied,” said Aviva Bowen, a spokeswoman for the Challenger.
Joshua Kaufman, campaign manager at La Spata, agrees.
“Like I just told the team, this doesn’t change anything,” Kaufman said in his own text to The Sun-Times. We are going full speed ahead to the final vote.
“With all the money spent against us in this race, few predicted that we might even avoid the run-off vote. It shows what people understood from the beginning: every vote counts.”
And while not all of them will be returned, the 1,791 requested vote-by-mail ballots may still be returned from boroughs, including parts of Logan Square, West Town and the Wicker Park district.
“We are thrilled!” said Chris Ridgeway, Communications Director of La Spata, in a statement. “I’m confident, but of course I know I’ll have to wait until I get all the votes. For example, another batch could be trending downward. But as a trend with every rolling update, I We are making better progress.”
From the beginning, the race was considered one of the marquee city council contests of the year.
La Spata, 42, faced lawyer Sam Royko, 35. Stephen “Andy” Schneider, 43, magazine editor and publisher. And he is a former Aldo. Proco “Joe” Moreno, 50 years old.
Loiko’s late father has worked for the Chicago Daily News, the Sun-Times, and the Tribune, criticizing Chicago politicians.
And Moreno was attempting a comeback four years after La Spata banished him amid Moreno’s alcohol-fueled implosion, which included a drinking accident on the Gold Coast. I attribute two years of counseling to helping get my life back on track.
However, Moreno tried to regain his seat on the Council, but fell far short of his bid.
The latest tally on Monday put La Spata in first place with 50.1%, Loico second with 23.46%, Schneider third with 19.63% and Moreno third with 6.82%.
Whatever ultimately happens in Ward 1, at least 13 other Wards are expected to see runoff. 24th on the Westside. 30, 36, 45 on the northwest side. Wards 43, 46 and 48 in the north.
Located in Aldo, 29th Arrondissement on the West Side. Chris Taliaferro escaped the runoff vote against challenger CB Johnson with just 35 votes after Monday’s mail-in ballots were counted, holding a narrow majority.
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https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/3/6/23628401/runoff-ald-la-spata-royko-proco-joe-moreno-schneider-logan-square-wicker-park-april-council La Spata are ‘encouraged’ by a small margin in District 1 but have yet to declare victory