Last week’s election marked the first time Chicagoans voted on the city’s entire school board, marking the end of mayoral control — and the end of the Chicago Teachers Union’s stronghold.
Here’s how it all shook out.
Leading up to the Election
It was a dramatic campaign season.
- In the presidential race, all three frontrunners carried some baggage.
- Billionaire influence: Common Ground Collective, a new PAC, spent $7 million against CTU-backed candidates. Local megadonor Michael Sacks funded about $4.7 million of that.
- The Illinois Network of Charter Schools also spent big against CTU, as much as $31 per vote.
Election Turnout
Voter turnout for the school board responses was lower than the city’s overall.
- The numbers: More than 568,000 votes were cast citywide for school board president. Fewer than 540,000 were cast across the 20 district races.
- That means about 86% of Chicagoans who voted cast a vote for school board president and about 82% cast a vote in district races. (The city’s total turnout was around 43%.)
- In 2024, when there were 10 district races, about 800,000 people voted for school board candidates, but overall turnout was higher for that general election.
The Results
The fully elected school board will include 20 members, plus a new board president.
- Jessica Biggs, a former principal and current board member, won the presidential race with almost 49% of the vote. Biggs was backed by the Service Employees International Union, as well as billionaire Sacks, but she’ll head a varied board.
- A split board: Preliminary results show ten of 20 electees were backed by CTU, a decrease for the union. Seven were endorsed by Common Ground Collective, which spent big on several losses — over $70 per vote in two unsuccessful races on the Northwest Side. INCS also saw costly defeats, though many winners are pro-school-choice.
- Big picture: As CTU’s power on the board wanes, the incoming board will likely lean more pro-charter.
- Stay tuned: Some races have yet to be called.
The Board Breakdown
More than half of the 20 winners are incumbents.
- District 1A: Margie B. Luczak was supported by INCS.
- District 1B: Claudia Peralta was supported by CTU, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, and SEIU.
- District 2A: Ebony DeBerry, an incumbent, was supported by CTU and SEIU.
- District 2B: Deborah “Debby” Pope, an incumbent, was supported by CTU.
- District 3A: Norma Rios Sierra, an incumbent appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, was supported by CTU and SEIU.
- District 3B: CTU-backed Jason Dónes maintains a narrow lead over incumbent Carlos Rivas Jr., but votes are still being counted. Dónes is supported by CTU.
- District 4A: Karen Zaccor, an incumbent, is a staunch CTU ally.
- District 4B: Ellen Rosenfeld, an incumbent endorsed by Common Ground Collective, INCS, and SEIU ran unopposed.
- District 5A: LaPamela Williams was supported by Common Ground Collective and INCS.
- District 5B: Michilla “Kyla” Blaise, a CTU-backed incumbent, maintains a lead.
- District 6A: There’s a three-way tie between mayor-appointed incumbent Anusha Thotakura, Isaiah White, and Brenda Lee Anderson. White, backed by Common Ground Collective and INCS, is in a slight lead.
- District 6B: Brittany B. Kimble, a newcomer with no CTU endorsement, beat a Common Ground Collective-backed opponent.
- District 7A: Emma Lozano is a mayor-appointed incumbent with CTU backing, and anti-CTU groups spent big against her.
- District 7B: Yesenia Lopez, an incumbent, was backed by SEIU.
- District 8A: Incumbent Angel Gutierrez ran unopposed and was backed by Common Ground Collective and INCS.
- District 8B: Juan Ignacio Gonzalez, backed by Common Ground Collective, was technically unopposed on the ballot but faced a write-in opponent.
- District 9A: Brittany Bailey Preston ran unopposed and was endorsed by Common Ground Collective and SEIU.
- District 9B: Therese Boyle, an incumbent, was backed by INCS and won by a large margin.
- District 10A: Che “Rhymefest” Smith, an incumbent, beat a CTU-backed write-in opponent. He was endorsed by Common Ground Collective and INCS.
- District 10B: Connie Anderson, a CTU-backed incumbent, was appointed to the board by Johnson recently.
