Chicago Alderman Roberto Maldonado won’t seek reelection, ending 13-year tenure

CHICAGO — Longtime Chicago Alderman Roberto Maldonado, 26th, appears to be joining the parade of City Council members opting out of another term.

The Chicago Board of Elections confirmed Maldonado withdrew his candidacy for reelection Friday afternoon.

Maldonado did not immediately return The Chicago Tribune’s request for comment, but such a withdrawal would likely mean he would step down at the end of his term in May after more than 13 years on the City Council representing the area around Humboldt Park.

“Alderman Maldonado’s empathetic approach to public service has only deepened throughout his 13 years as 26th Ward Alderman — as evidenced by his fierce advocacy for more affordable housing and push for anti-gentrification legislation to protect his constituents from displacement,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote in a statement. “I thank him for his years of passionate leadership in service of this great city.”

Maldonado was first tapped to represent the 26th Ward in the summer of 2009 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. Maldonado had become politically involved with Harold Washington’s mayoral run in 1983, and worked on Luis Gutierrez’s campaigns for alderman and Congress. Before becoming alderman, Maldonado served three terms on the Cook County Board, representing the 8th District.

With less than two months before the Feb. 28 election, Maldonado’s withdrawal leaves five remaining candidates in the race for the 26th Ward seat on the City Council. Ward Democratic Committeeperson Angee Gonzalez Rodriguez and Julian Perez are assured spots on the ballot. Three other candidates — Jessica “Jessie” Fuentes, Kirk Ortiz and Anthony Rivera — are facing petition challenges.

In recent years, Maldonado has focused his attention on addressing gentrification near the popular trail known as The 606, successfully pushing measures that would eventually result in an ordinance that curbed de-conversions near the trail in January 2021.

But he has also profited off of house-flipping in the area, according to a Block Club Chicago investigation.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he defended Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city employees and helped defeat an attempt by a group of fellow aldermen to revoke it in 2021.

Maldonado served for two years as chair of City Council’s Latino Caucus, between 2019 and 2021. He is the latest of several aldermen who have resigned, announced retirements or otherwise opted to leave the City Council in recent months.

Among those exiting from the Council are 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke, facing widespread corruption charges; Ald. Ariel Reboyras, 30th; Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st; and Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th. Others include Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th; Uptown Ald. James Cappleman, 46th; Andersonville Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th; South Shore and Hyde Park Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th; and indicted West Pullman Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th. Lincoln Park Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd, has already stepped down.

Two others — Sophia King, 4th, and Roderick Sawyer, 6th — are running for mayor against Lightfoot and are unable to seek reelection as City Council members.

Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, has already exited the council to serve on the Cook County Board of Review. Lightfoot named Cardenas’ former chief of staff, Anabel Abarca, as his replacement last month.

Others — such as former Ald. Michael Scott, 24th, who left the council for a job in the private sector, and former Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, convicted of tax evasion and lying to banking regulators — have stepped down and had their positions filled by mayoral appointment. Lightfoot replaced Daley Thompson with United Airlines director Nicole Lee, and replaced Scott with his sister, Monique Scott, a Chicago Park District supervisor.