By Jazmin Bustamante ’21
The Chicagoan election to determine who shall take on the position of the mayor for a four-year-term is said to end on Wednesday, Feb. 6 during 2019.
The election is nonpartisan, which means it yields bias toward a certain political candidate in regards to parties and such. If the event in which no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff election will be held on Tuesday, April 2 of 2019.
Chicago’s mayoral candidates thus consist of Toni Preckwinkle, Susana Mendoza, Paul Vallas, Amara Enyia, Gery Chico, and more. The winning position grants power to oversee the city’s main departments, such as the education, police, and transportation departments.
Sophomore Elias Badillo stated, “Toni Preckwinkle definitely has had my attention as of lately. She really voiced her opposition when the topic of allowing for the death penalty to be a thing came up.” Badillo had referred to a mayoral forum on African-related issues on Nov. 18 of this year.
Preckwinkle had voiced her disagreement publicly to Susana Mendoza, another American politician, for her past support of letting the death penalty remain.
Badillo finished, “She just really is not afraid to put what she thinks out there onto the table, you know? I find it fitting how she prioritizes humanization, even with criminality.”
Sophomore Miguel Cordero declared, “Paul Vallas has a feasible vision for the future of Chicago set in place with his policies. Take the fact that he expressed his belief for re-inventing high schools at disadvantages in order to allow for better education.”
Vallas was once a CEO of Chicago Public Schools, an organization that runs systems of educational value for students under a public domain.
Cordero continued, “Personally, I find that the man truly prioritizes genuine education. Despite certain figures within CPS that have proven to be problematic, laundering money and whatnot, his vocal approval for granting everyone the right to a great education is admirable.”
Vallas famously calls himself “A Problem Solver, Not a Politician” as stated on his official website.
Cordero finished, “The way that he deliberately puts down the title of being a politician almost pegs him to seem intolerable of them. After all, him saying he is a ‘problem solver’ rather than an actual politician just goes to show that he believes politicians only create issues. It’s ironic, considering the fact that he literally is a politician and all.”
