WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

A ruling issued Friday morning by the Illinois Supreme Court means more defamation lawsuits involving public figures can go forward. The decision could help a former candidate for Chicago alderman who sued his opponent over negative advertising.RULING: Sandholm v.

This much you already know: Political campaigns can be costly. And that's especially true for one candidate who ran for Chicago alderman last year.John Garrido lost after getting knocked around by negative ads.

There will be no Republicans on the newly elected Chicago City Council, and a retiring GOP alderman is putting some blame for that on party officials.Alderman is a non-partisan job, but party labels still matter. Ald.

Margins of victory were very small in a handful of Chicago city council runoffs, and the results could change slightly as late-arriving absentee ballots trickle in.

A Republican in the Chicago City Council is a rare breed. For the past twenty years, there's been exactly one. Ald. Brian Doherty is retiring, but in at least two runoff races taking place in April, Republicans are in contention. Technically, the office of alderman is non-partisan.