Ald. Lee held on to his 11th Ward seat, as challenger Ciaravino acknowledged

Ald incumbent. Nicole Lee retained her 11th Ward seat Tuesday night as her opponent, Anthony Ciaravino conceded shortly after voting closed.

With all police reports the unofficial results showed Lee had received 62% of the vote, while his opponent, Anthony Ciaravino, had 38%.

That number could change as ballots keep pouring in, but it looks unlikely to challenge Lee's leadership.

Addressing supporters at Stockyards Garage, Ciaravino said, “It wasn't easy, I wasn't ready to make a concession speech tonight… (but) we did some amazing things.”

Lee, the first woman of Asian descent to serve on City Council, will also be the first alderman elected to represent Chicago's Asian-majority neighborhood—a goal Chinatown leaders have long sought.

“I am very proud that our community answered the call that we fought hard to get a remap and a map that has an Asian majority ward, and that gives us an opportunity,” Lee told WBEZ late Tuesday.

Lee campaigned for that dream, telling the Sun-Times in an interview last month that if he was elected to represent the newly drawn 11th Ward, Asian American voters would have a political voice for the first time in the city's 185-year history.

“People who were citizens who had never voted before in their 90s are coming out,” said Lee. “People who have the right to vote but have no prior reason. Now they do, and this is why representation is so important.”

The race is a test of the Daley family's legacy and their political influence in the neighborhood and the neighborhood's new majority, which was created through last year's redistricting that slashed the Canaryville and East Pilsen areas from the neighborhood map.

Lee was appointed last year by Mayor Lori Lightfoot following Ald's resignation. Patrick Daley Thompson after he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges. He is supported in racing by the Daley family.

Mayor Richard M. Daley and his brother, Cook County Commissioner John Daley, both endorsed Lee for the seat, holding fundraisers on his behalf. Lee's father, Gene Lee, had served as an aide to the former mayor.

“The 11th Ward has been remapped… We knew it was a tall hill to climb, and I think we climbed it very well,” Ciaravino told a Sun-Times reporter after his concession.

Ciaravino, a white Chicago police officer, has his own connection to the Bridgeport machine.

Depositions in the city lawsuit show Ciaravino was previously assigned to Mayor Daley's security detail, and he received financial support from longtime Daley supporters Fred B. Barbara, a trucker and sewage hauler, and Joseph Feldman, a developer and former publisher of Bridgeport News.

Ciaravino is also endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the union that represents most of the Chicago police officers, and he relies heavily on his experience as an officer to try and persuade voters to leave their safety in his hands.

Both candidates have finished competing with about 30% of the vote each in February's election, leading to Tuesday's second round, in which it appeared Lee was able to consolidate most of the votes that previously fell to the other eliminated challenger. in the first round of voting.

Eva Ho Photography and Sun-Times files

In the 4th Ward race to replace Ald. Sophia King, whose seat was left open when she failed to run for mayor, Rep. Lamont Robinson held a sizeable advantage over Prentice Butler, King's longtime chief of staff.

With 27 of the 28 counties reporting, Robinson had 66% of the vote to Butler's 34%.

In the 5th Ward, community organizer Desmon Yancy leads attorney Martina Hone to successfully retire Ald. Leslie Hairston.

With 24 of 25 reporting areas, Yancy leads slightly over Horne, 51% to 49%; less than 300 votes separated the two candidates – and more than 1,700 ballots still need to be counted.