Voters push out some Emanuel-backed aldermen

Voters push out some Emanuel-backed aldermen
Ald. Freddrenna Lyle debated her opponent last week in WBEZ's studios. WBEZ/file
Voters push out some Emanuel-backed aldermen
Ald. Freddrenna Lyle debated her opponent last week in WBEZ's studios. WBEZ/file

Voters push out some Emanuel-backed aldermen

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Updated with endorsement of Ald. Dixon at 7:47 a.m.

Several incumbent aldermen backed by Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel appear to have lost their seats.

Emanuel invested more than $280,000 into runoff elections, using a political action committee he called New Chicago Committee.  The total includes some $46,000 for South Side Ald. Freddrenna Lyle in her 6th Ward battle against Roderick Sawyer, son of former Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer.

Lyle is losing, as is John Rice, another Emanuel endorsee. Unlike Lyle, though, Rice hasn’t reported receiving any financial support from the mayor-elect. And the results from Tuesday show Rice well behind firefighter Nicholas Sposato in the Northwest Side’s 36th Ward.

According to an Emanuel spokesperson, the mayor-elect also backed 24th Ward Ald. Sharon Dixon. She was soundly defeated Tuesday by the ward’s former alderman, Michael Chandler.

In all, Emanuel endorsed candidates in ten runoffs; seven appear to have won, including the only challenger he endorsed - Debra Silverstein in the North Side’s 50th Ward. With the help of close to $50,000 from Emanuel, she unseated longtime Ald. Bernard Stone.

(For more on endorsements and money in these contests, check out Chicago runoff muscle: Who’s backing whom and with how much?)