Andre Vasquez Elected 40th Ward Alderman, Ousting O'Connor

CHICAGO — For more than three decades, Patrick O'Connor has been the 40th Ward alderman, but after a tough political fight, he lost Tuesday's runoff election to Andre Vasquez.

O'Connor was elected 40th Ward alderman in 1983, when he was 28 years old. An attorney by profession, he is also the VP and in-house counsel to Foster Bank in the 40th Ward.

The 40th Ward includes parts of Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Budlong Woods, Bowmanville and Andersonville.

Andre Vasquez is a senior manager at a major utility company. He's organized many community meetings, block parties and events. Vasquez said he's passionate about building a movement that leaves "a legacy of sustainable governance."

Aldermanic runoff election results:

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Vasquez' top priority is demanding a more transparent, accessible and accountable local government.

Vasquez said his upbringing in Chicago made him who he is today.

"My parents were immigrants, so we didn't have what everyone else had," Vasquez said. "Our family endured blatant racism and systematic oppression. But my parents pushed through — determined to build a better life for my brother and me."

A graduate of Lane Tech, Vasquez said he found his voice as a hip hop artist in Chicago.

"As a person of color, I didn't think I had one," he said.

Vasquez's other priorities include fighting for better schools, city services and the right allocation of resources in city government.

After Ald. Ed Burke (14th) was charged with attempted extortion in early January, Burke stepped down as chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he was moving O'Connor — the committee's vice-chair — into Burke's spot.

While often criticized for not seeking enough community input, O'Connor has been the driving force behind many major accomplishments in his community, including the West Ridge Nature Preserve.

"Pat’s worked for years to make the 40th Ward one of the safest neighborhoods in the city and a great place to live, work and raise a family. Pat was born here and raised his own family in this community," O'Connor's campaign team said in a statement. "Pat has fought for investments in our public schools, parks, adding a twenty-acre nature preserve along Western Avenue, and bringing Tony’s Finer Foods to Lincoln Ave when Dominick’s closed."

"He’s also fought for our values in city hall, raising the minimum wage and supporting a fully paid community college scholarship for any public high-school student with a B average or better."

During his aldermanic career, O'Connor has occasionally been accused of nepotism after securing friends and family members city jobs, but he's never tried to hide that from the public.

O'Connor's wife, Barbara, is a real-estate broker who has sold millions of dollars worth of condos, many of which could not have been built without zoning changes that were given the green light by city council.

Some 40th Ward candidates' forums grew heated in the run up to the Feb. 26 election. In an October forum, candidate Ugo Ukere accused O'Connor of racism, after the alderman criticised Ukere for using his Nigerian heritage to raise campaign money.

"O'Connor attempted to cast me as a black bogeyman, someone who only wants to build power for Nigerians and nobody else," Ukere said in a statement posted on Twitter.

O'Connor said his comments were in response to a fundraising invitation, which read, "Building Nigerian Political Power."

In a statement issued after the accusation, O'Connor said he felt that was "exclusionary."

"No one race or ethnicity makes up the majority of the ward," his statement read. "A person who seeks to be the 40th Ward's Alderman should want to have his ward be his base of support and power."

40th Ward Endorsements:

• Chicago Tribune Editorial Board: Patrick O'Connor
• Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board: Patrick O'Connor

The city council is responsible for adopting the city budget and levying taxes. It's also tasked with creating and amending city laws, policies and ordinances.

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