Outgoing Ald. Tom Tunney (44th ward) will not be among the challengers to incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the upcoming city election, according to multiple reports.
Tunney’s decision was first reported Nov. 10 in Chicago Tribune.
The openly gay Tunney—a Lake View businessman and longtime HIV/AIDS activist—announced last August that he would not be returning to the Chicago City Council. Tunney’s longtime office chief, Bennett Lawson, almost immediately announced that he would be running to fill Tunney’s post. Tunney was considering the mayoral run at the behest of former Ald. Richard Mell, Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The field of politicians challenging Lightfoot in February is already crowded. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia entered the race Nov. 10. He’ll be among nine challengers to the incumbent Mayor. Garcia previously ran against Lightfoot’s predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, in 2015. That contest went into a runoff, where Garcia was defeated by Emanuel.
Chicago Tribune’s article is at http://tinyurl.com/bddjyy9r. Chicago Sun-Times’ article on Mell and Tunney is at http://tinyurl.com/3a625tra.