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CHICAGO — Chicago voters made history Tuesday, casting ballots for 21 members of the Board of Education, ending 30 years of mayoral control of the city’s schools.
The results, if they hold, will shift the power dynamics in Chicago Public Schools, with board members backed by the Chicago Teachers Union projected to control 10 seats compared to their current 14. The board will be led by a woman who gathered a broad mix of support, from multimillionaires to the union representing school support staff.
The brutal election season drew more than $10 million in campaign money as special interests lined up behind their favored candidates.
Special interest groups drew battle lines across the city. Jessica Biggs, a current school board member and former CPS principal, was set to be elected board president after a heated campaign. She was backed by SEIU, the union representing school support staff; several current and former CPS administrators; and special interest groups, including Common Ground Collective, a new anti-CTU political action committee funded heavily by billionaire Michael Sacks.
The CTU hoped to elect one of their organizers as school board president to maintain an 11-member majority, but that appears to be slipping away. Ten union-backed candidates were leading in district races, and that would be one member short.
This story will continually be updated as preliminary results from the Chicago Board of Elections continue to come in.
Jessica Biggs, a current school board member and former CPS principal, is set to become Chicago’s first elected school board president, capturing nearly half of the vote in a three-way competition against Chicago Teachers Union organizer Hilario Dominguez and attorney Victor Henderson.
The high-stakes race to become the city’s first elected school board president was a showdown between a teachers union candidate, a current board member backed by a coalition of labor groups and billionaires, and an independent self-funded candidate.
Biggs was backed by the union representing CPS support workers and the Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU political action committee funded heavily by billionaire Michael Sacks.
Former Chicago Teachers Union organizer Hilario Dominguez conceded shortly after 9 p.m.
Victor Henderson, an attorney and board member at the charter Urban Prep, who ran as an independent with his own money had roughly 17% of the vote when Biggs declared victory.
The school board president sets the board’s agenda and direction, and come January, will be a full voting member. Currently, the board president only gets a tie-breaking vote. The race drew millions in spending for negative ads and personal attacks about the candidates’ backgrounds. All three candidates faced intense public scrutiny for past controversies in recent months. Read more.
District 1A: O’Hare, Norwood Park, Forest Glen, Jefferson Park, Dunning, Edison Park
Retired police officer Margie Luczak will represent the Far Northwest Side on the Chicago Board of Education for the next two years after unseating incumbent Ed Bannon, who was appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. Unlike candidates in some of the other school board races, Bannon and Luczak have two very different ideologies and approaches to governance.
Luczak had taken on a more anti-establishment role that appears to have resonated in the Far Northwest Side, which leans more conservative than other parts of the city. Bannon was backed by both the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union, and though he is a Johnson appointee, Bannon didn’t always align with the mayor’s agenda.
Campaign money for Bannon surged in recent weeks, but Luczak benefitted from spending by the anti-CTU Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
District 1B: Portage Park, Dunning, Irving Park, Belmont Cragin, North Park, Montclare, Albany Park
Claudia Peralta, a political organizer who earned support from the city’s two major staff unions, handily defeated Michelle Pierre, a candidate who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2024.
Peralta was backed by the CTU and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, whom she works for. She will serve a four-year term, filling the seat vacated by Jennifer Custer, who filed to run for school board president but withdrew, citing a flood of special interest money.
Custer beat Pierre in the 2024 school board elections. But this time, District 1b made up only half of the area, and the gap between Peralta and Pierre appears much wider than it was between Custer and Pierre two years ago.
The race in District 1b saw a flood of campaign cash, with more than $310,000 in contributions going directly to the candidates and more than $450,000 coming from special interest groups.
Pierre raised nearly $100,000 from Coca-Cola Company director David Weinberg, pro-charter school special interest groups, and venture capitalist Paul Finnegan. She was also backed by pro-school choice groups and the Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU political action committee funded by billionaire Michael Sacks.
District 2A: West Ridge, Rogers Park and North Park
Ebony DeBerry will hold onto her seat on the Chicago Board of Education for another four years after defeating opponent Hector Morales, who serves as an attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
DeBerry was elected in 2024 to represent both District 2a and 2b. She mostly voted in lockstep with a CTU-aligned majority, but occasionally split from them. Her re-election bid had the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU, one of five races where the two unions were aligned.
To be successful in the District 2a race, DeBerry and Morales needed to appeal to one of the most diverse districts along Chicago’s lakefront, which includes Rogers Park, a neighborhood home to a vast array of immigrant families. DeBerry is a lifelong resident of Rogers Park and taught at the neighborhood’s Sullivan High School. Morales volunteered in Rogers Park’s Gale Elementary School to teach kids how to make electronic music.
The distribution of campaign contributions was one-sided in District 2a, with most spending coming from DeBerry’s campaign. Morales did not report any contributions.
District 2B: Lincoln Square, Edgewater, Albany Park, Uptown and North Park
Debby Pope, a CTU-backed incumbent appointed to the school board in 2024, will serve another two years on the board after fending off a challenge from Kyna Lenhof, a former CPS special education teacher.
The race between two former CPS teachers along Chicago’s lakefront area had a third candidate, Daniel Basco, who suspended his campaign in mid-October and threw his support behind Lenhof. The competition, however, served as another proxy for the battle between CTU and its foes.
Pope, a former CPS bilingual social studies teacher, was primarily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union’s political fundraising arm and the Chicago Working Families PAC, in addition to personal loans and some individual contributions. The bulk of Lenhof’s money came from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, venture capitalist Paul Finnegan, and the anti-CTU Common Ground Collective. The winner will serve on the board for the next two years.
The two candidates both believe increased funding for CPS — and the equitable distribution of that money to schools — should be a top priority. Pope promised to support tax reforms that increase contributions from wealthy Chicagoans to fund public education as a way to see that through, while Lenhof stressed the need to move away district borrowing via high-interest loans.
District 3A: Avondale, Irving Park, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Albany Park
Norma Rios Sierra, the incumbent appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson two years ago, retained her seat over challenger Peter Gonzales, and will serve a two-year term representing neighborhoods on the north west side.
Rios Sierra, an artist and longtime community organizer in Logan Square, was backed by CTU and SEIU in one of five districts where the two unions are aligned. Gonzales was supported by the anti-CTU Common Ground Collective, the pro-school choice Urban Center, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. This was one of a handful of races where special interest money has been flowing fast in recent weeks. Common Ground spent significantly to oppose Rios Sierra and support Gonzales, while INCS spent big on mailers and ads for Gonzales.
“Tonight, voters on Chicago’s Northwest Side sent a clear ultimatum––our schools are not up for sale,” Rios Sierra said in an emailed statement. “Our schools are not up for closure. Our public schools belong to the people, not billionaires.”
The statement said her next steps will include going to Springfield to advocate for a tax surcharge on wealthy Illinoisans “so we can fully fund neighborhood schools where every student can thrive.”
District 3B: Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin, West Town, Hermosa
A tense rematch in Humboldt Park remains a toss-up, with CTU-backed dad Jason Dónes leading incumbent Carlos Rivas Jr. by fewer than 200 votes.
The winner will serve on the board for the next four years because Rivas Jr. won in 2024. If Dónes holds on, the union will have another ally elected to the board.
The two Latino men were backed by opposing special interests, with Dónes’ campaign largely funded by Our Schools, a political action committee bankrolled by CTU. Rivas Jr. got support from SEIU, Common Ground Collective, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
However, the two have similar backgrounds: They grew up in the neighborhood. Both attended selective enrollment high schools in CPS, went to college, and returned to Chicago to teach through Teach for America. They also hold similar stances on everything from school closures to restrictions on artificial intelligence in the classroom to school ratings.
In the past week, Our Schools sent mailers attacking Rivas for a 2018 incident when he was on staff at the Noble Network of Charter Schools and allegedly was disciplined for excessive drinking and unwanted touching of a colleague.
District 4A: Lakeview, Uptown, North Center and Edgewater
Retired teacher Karen Zaccor, a staunch CTU ally on the current board, will keep her seat for another two years, warding off challenges from Ellen Sherratt, a teacher quality consultant, and Angel Alvarez, a stem cell researcher and advocate for students with disabilities.
The race in district 4a on the city’s North Side was among the most expensive and competitive. Several anti-CTU groups and the political action committee for the SEIU Local 73 spent heavily in support of Sherratt and in opposition to Zaccor as they sought to loosen the teachers union’s firm grip on the school board. That influx of cash dwarfed the teachers union spending backing Zaccor, at least as of mid-October, the most recent deadline to report campaign expenditures.
Zaccor said Tuesday evening the race demonstrated the limitations of campaign cash in shaping the outcome.
“Now the real work ahead of us continues — to make our schools more equitable and better resourced,” she said. Zaccor campaigned on a promise to push hard for more state funding and the continued expansion of the district’s Sustainable Community Schools program.
On the campaign trail, Sherratt decried the CPS budget Zaccor and other school board members passed in July with “phantom” money the state hasn’t approved.
Sherratt said regardless of the outcome, running for the seat was a rewarding experience that connected her with residents seeking board representation independent of the CTU or other special interests.
“I tried to have a really positive campaign focused on what CPS can achieve,” she said.
District 4B: Lincoln Park, North Center, Lakeview and Logan Square
Current school board member Ellen Rosenfeld, a former CPS family engagement official and teacher, will serve on the board another four years after running unopposed in the North Side district.
She had been elected decisively in 2024 against five opponents, including Karen Zaccor, whom Mayor Johnson then appointed to the board. Zaccor clinched reelection in District 4a.
Rosenfeld is part of a block of board members not aligned with CTU who banded together to curb the union’s influence the past two years. She said the next school board should be less mired in politics and more focused on the student experience and outcomes. She also said the district must reckon with a decade of sharply declining enrollment, including by closing some severely underenrolled schools.
District 5A: Austin, Humboldt Park, West Town and Montclare
LaPamela Williams unseated incumbent Aaron “Jitu” Brown and will secure a four-year term representing part of Chicago’s West Side.
Williams, a real estate agent and Austin native whose top priority was improving the district’s finances, was backed by school choice groups Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center, as well as Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks. She did not return a call requesting comment.
Brown, a longtime community organizer on the South Side who fought since 2012 to pass legislation allowing Chicago to elect school board members, was backed by the teachers union. He ran unopposed in 2024 and was elected to represent Districts 5a and 5b. Brown served as chair of the Black Student Achievement Committee and was in charge of forging ahead on the CPS Black Student Success Plan despite scrutiny from the Trump administration and threats to withhold federal funding.
Brown and Williams, plus write-in candidate Kernetha Jones, are CPS graduates and longtime West Side residents. But their education priorities are vastly different in this race, which is another proxy for the head-to-head battle between the CTU and other special interest groups that support school choice or are more generally against the union.
Brown said Tuesday that his campaign was outspent by Williams’ backers by an “exorbitant amount,” and that he planned to hold Williams accountable if she’s elected — a role that he described as his “comfort zone.”
“I didn’t get on the school board to be a lifelong elected official,” he said. “I worked to create the institution so that people would actually have a voice.”
Asked if he wanted to run again during the next election, he said with a laugh, “No, I’m good.”
District 5B: North Lawndale, Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park and West Town
Incumbent Michilia “Kyla” Blaise is maintaining her lead over Anthony Hargrove to keep her school board seat, but the race is still too close to call. The winner will represent a chunk of Chicago’s West Side for the next two years.
Blaise, who spent her evening at a party at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters, said Tuesday night she felt confident her lead would hold. She said she was nervous heading into the election because her opponent significantly outspent her campaign, but she made sure to be visible in her district, including visiting lots of schools. Special interest groups that supported Hargrove outspent the CTU and an aligned PAC 6-to-1 on this race, according to the most recent campaign finance records.
Both candidates ran for school board in 2024 but Blaise dropped out before the election, and Hargrove was kicked off the ballot after a petition challenge.
This time around, Blaise and Hargrove competed with opposing endorsements and priorities for the economically diverse district. Blaise is endorsed by the CTU, while Hargrove is backed by SEIU, the union that represents CPS support workers, and Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks. He’s also backed by pro-school choice groups Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center.
Blaise’s top priority includes securing more funding for CPS and revitalizing Marshall Metropolitan High School, which enrolls just 200 students. Hargrove wants to improve reading and math and special education.
If she’s elected, she said she’ll spend the first several months of her tenure making connections with her fellow board members.
“The point of the matter is for us to talk through whatever differences there are and create policy that is helpful to kids,” she said. “I want to make sure we are governing effectively and it’s not tit for tat and biting remarks in board meetings.”
Late Tuesday, Hargrove said he was waiting for all of the results to come in and remained “hopeful.” In response to Blaise’s comments about his campaign’s spending, Hargrove said he also drew support from friends and worked hard to ensure he had a robust campaign after being kicked off the ballot in 2024.
“We put it all out on the playing field,” he said. “We are hopeful that it’s in the voters hands and they see my vision.”
District 6A: Near North Side and West Town
A tight three-way contest is still unfolding in the race to represent downtown Chicago and Wicker Park for the next two years, as the three candidates sit within 4 percentage points of each other. Political newcomer Isaiah White on Wednesday held the lead with a little over 200 votes.
Despite all precincts reporting, White said he felt it was “too soon to call victory” and was waiting for mail-in ballots to be counted.
“It looks positive, and I’m hoping for the best,” he said.
It’s been an expensive and bruising competition between the three candidates, who were backed by different special interests and unions. Incumbent Anusha Thotakura was appointed to the board by the mayor in 2024 after she came in second to Jessica Biggs in the election to represent both District 6a and 6b.
This year, she was backed by the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU and faced challenges from two newcomers: White, backed by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and anti-CTU group Common Ground Collective, and Brenda Lee Anderson, who did not draw funding from major special interest groups but was recently endorsed by the principals union.
The groups supportive of White spent nearly $395,000 supporting his campaign — more than ten times what CTU or aligned groups spent on Thotakura, according to mid-October campaign finance records.
Thotakura’s and White’s top priorities are to improve academic achievement. Anderson’s goal is to fix CPS’ budget issues by pushing for more state and federal funding.
The race was rocky from the start. Anderson, whose pronouns are they/them, faced a challenge to their paperwork to appear on the ballot and said Thotakura was behind it. Thotakura has declined to comment on that accusation.
Since then, people from both camps have lobbed accusations against each other on social media. Anderson has accused Thotakura’s camp of making false claims about them on the campaign trail, while someone who claimed to be a volunteer with Thotakura’s campaign accused Anderson’s campaign of bullying and harassment.
District 6B: Greater Grand Crossing, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Near South Side, The Loop, Douglas, Woodlawn, Englewood, Fuller Park, Hyde Park
Brittany Kimble defeated Michael Neal in a race lacking an incumbent or endorsements from either CTU or SEIU, the two major unions representing CPS staff. Both Kimble and Neal were political newcomers.
Kimble said on the campaign trail she wants to improve academic achievement and fix the district’s budget. Tuesday night, she said her first focus on the board will be to ensure the district’s finances’ are stable in case CPS doesn’t get an additional $150 million that the district’s budget assumes it will get from the state — a maneuver that could result in midyear cuts.
“I think that will be a tumultuous beginning,” she said. “How can we keep the children as stable as possible?”
Kimble said her strategy during the race with limited funds was to attend outdoor events or knock on doors to meet potential voters. She said she has “nothing but respect for” Neal, particularly for running a race that was devoid of some of the public attacks apparent in other school board races.
Neal earned the endorsement of Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group that says it’s advocating for “effective progressive policies” and is heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks, while Kimble was endorsed by Urban Center, a centrist, pro-school-choice group.
Neal said Tuesday night he ran his campaign “the best I could” by attending forums and answering voters’ questions. He said he’ll still be involved in his community: He said he’s reading to preschool children Wednesday morning like he typically does at Pershing Elementary School.
“I believe I have a good grasp of what it means to be a board member, how to serve my community,” he said. “But I also understand elections are about getting votes. I can’t say I have the strongest political acumen, but at the same time I’m proud of the fact that I had enough courage to run.”
District 7A: South Lawndale, Near West Side, Lower West Side, Garfield Ridge and Archer Heights
Emma Lozano, a pastor and community activist appointed by the mayor, appears to have defeated challenger Jesus Ayala Jr., a former nonprofit leader with backing from anti-CTU groups. Nearly a fifth of precincts are still reporting results, though, so the outcome is not certain.
In the race to represent this majority Latino district for the next two years, Lozano’s main priority is to secure more progressive revenue for schools and protect immigrant families in the wake of increased federal enforcement. Ayala focused on improving student academic achievement and access to student supports, such as bilingual services, at all schools.
Special interests who backed Ayala — the anti-Chicago Teachers Union group Common Ground Collective, and pro-school-choice groups like Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center — spent $374,000 supporting his campaign. That’s compared with just $17,000 that the CTU and an aligned PAC, Our Schools Action, spent to support Lozano.
During a speech at an election party at CTU headquarters, Lozano said she and her supporters are going to make sure children “get the world-class education they deserve.” She referenced billionaire donors who hoped to block or unseat CTU-backed candidates and were “trying to take (the elected school board) away from us.”
“There’s something that my brother Rudy always used to say: ‘There are no great men or women in the world — only great challenges that ordinary people must take on,’” she said. “And that’s what we did.”
District 7B: Brighton Park, Lower West Side, Archer Heights, Bridgeport, Gage Park, West Elsdon, Armour Square, McKinley Park
Incumbent Yesenia Lopez has won her re-election bid over newcomer Erika E. Diaz-Chavez, who was endorsed by a pro-school-choice group. That means Lopez will remain on the board for another four years to represent part of Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Lopez, a former congressional campaign staffer who was elected to the board in 2024, and Diaz-Chavez, a project manager for the Chicago Park District, were competing to lead a district that serves the highest percentage of Hispanic students of all board districts.
Lopez’s priorities include advocating for immigrant families and improving mental health support for students. Diaz-Chavez advocated for focusing on boosting student academic outcomes.
Lopez, who is often critical of charter schools, was endorsed by SEIU, which represents support workers at CPS, and Our Schools, a PAC that is heavily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union, though the union itself did not endorse either candidate in this district. Diaz-Chavez is backed by Urban Center, a centrist, pro-school-choice organization.
Neither Lopez nor Diaz-Chavez returned calls Tuesday night for comment.
District 8A: Ashburn, Garfield Ridge, Clearing, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, West Elsdon
Angel Gutierrez, a current elected school board member and nonprofit leader, is guaranteed to serve another four years term representing the far southwest side district after no one filed paperwork to challenge him, and no write-in candidates declared themselves.
Elected in 2024 with the backing of school choice advocates, Gutierrez is part of a group of current board members who frequently vote against the CTU-aligned majority. His majority Latino district leans more conservative, and a higher proportion of children in 8a do not attend CPS schools. Those who do tend to choose their zoned neighborhood elementary schools.
Gutierrez is the deputy director of institutional advancement for Enlace Chicago and formerly chief advancement officer at Chicago Hope Academy, a private school on the West Side.
District 8B: New City, Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, McKinley Park, Bridgeport, The Loop, Brighton Park, West Lawn, Near South Side, Armour Square
Juan Ignacio González, a veteran Chicago Police Department detective and local coffee shop owner, is set to serve a two-year term as the new representative for a sprawling district stretching from the Loop southwest to Chicago Lawn. He was the sole candidate on the ballot but faced a write-in effort from a recent high school graduate, Alexander Angeles.
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran and the son of immigrant parents from Mexico, Gonzalez attended the University of Illinois Chicago. He said his top priority is high academic standards and improving math and reading instruction.
Angeles joined the race in late August, saying he decided to run after the Chicago election authority kicked incumbent and Mayor Brandon Johnson appointee Cydney Wallace off the ballot due to challenges to her petition signatures.
District 9A: Auburn Gresham, West Englewood, Englewood, New City, Ashburn, Washington Heights
Brittany Bailey Preston will be the school board representative for the Englewood and Auburn Gresham communities for the next two years after the current appointed school board representative, Angel Velez, did not have enough valid signatures to make it on the ballot.
The wife of a state senator and mom of six was the only name on the ballot. In a social media post, Preston said she wants to make CPS “the most family-friendly school district in America.”
She and her husband, state Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago), previously ran a construction company and were student activists at Chicago State University.
District 9B: Roseland, West Pullman, Morgan Park, Beverly, Mount Greenwood, Washington Heights
Therese Boyle held her seat by one of the largest winning margins across Tuesday’s school board races, beating CTU-backed Katherine Dunneback and solidifying her position to represent the far south side for an additional four years.
Boyle was one of three independents to win her seat on the school board in 2024 with no special interest endorsements or money. This time, the two-way contest was a battle between CTU and SEIU, the union representing school support staff. Boyle also had backing from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
Boyle is a former CPS school psychologist, and Dunneback is a speech-language pathologist and former CPS mom. The two differ on school closings and supporting charter schools, with Boyle open to both in certain circumstances, while Dunneback said no to both.
District 10A: South Shore, Woodlawn, Greater Grand Crossing, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Chicago, Douglas, Oakland
Che “Rhymefest” Smith, the Grammy-award winning hip-hop artist, has won reelection after fending off a write-in challenge from CTU-backed CPS mom Tameka Walton in the south lakefront district. He will represent the south lakefront for another four years.
Smith self-funded his successful win in 2024 and has put at least $80,000 toward his reelection campaign in 2026. Tameka Walton filed the required signatures to get on the ballot, but a validity challenge resulted in her name being removed. Still, she ran with the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union, which has included her in their endorsements, donated more than $38,000 to her campaign, and dubbed her one of their “public school champions.”
Smith said Tuesday evening that he took Walton’s challenge seriously and “fought for every vote.” After being in a minority of board members pushing back on the CTU’s influence, he said expects to serve on a majority focused on collaboration and student voice.
“The people have spoken,” he said, “but the students are the beneficiaries.”
District 10B: South Deering, Hegewisch, Riverdale, East Side, Chatham, South Chicago, Pullman, Calumet Heights, Avalon Park, Burnside, South Shore
Connie Anderson, a former CPS parent and record store owner backed by the CTU and recently appointed to the board by Mayor Brandon Johnson, has come out victorious in a threeway race to represent the city’s far southeast side for the next two years.
The competition highlighted a fault line in Chicago’s provincial politics pitting a candidate backed by the progressive left against an aide to a pothole politics-focused Democratic alderman.
Anderson held a strong lead over her opponent Patrick Watson, a legislative aide to Ald. Anthony Beale and a frequent critic of the mayor. He had the support of SEIU, the union representing school support staff, and anti-CTU interest groups.
Write-in candidate former teacher Rosita Chatonda was not funded or endorsed by any special interest groups and did not file any campaign finance paperwork.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.
Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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