Days away from Chicago’s historic school board election, the 40-plus candidates are knocking on doors, handing out flyers and staking out voting sites in a final push to drum up support in the down-ballot race.
After decades of mayoral control, voters will elect all 21 seats on the Chicago Board of Education on Tuesday. The historic race has been marked by a deluge of ads and mailers, seven-figure fundraising hauls and dozens of local forums.
What to know before you vote in Chicago’s elected school board races
For all the barnstorming, candidates say, it’s a mixed bag whether voters are familiar with the races. But campaigns are entering the homestretch with plenty of enthusiasm.
“It’s going door to door. It’s going to the polls. It’s still trying to meet the neighbors,” said Anthony Hargrove, a nonprofit program leader running in District 5B on the West Side. He’s up against Chicago Teachers Union-backed incumbent Michilla Blaise.
So what’s at stake on Election Day? The board oversees Chicago Public Schools — the nation’s third-largest school district — along with its $10 billion budget and 304,000 students. The board votes on issues ranging from routine contracts to property taxes, and even to school closures. The board president sets meeting agendas and works closely with district leadership to shape CPS policy. Candidates have focused on the district’s mounting debt, student achievement and state funding, among other issues.
Two blocs are competing for control of the board: candidates backed by the progressive CTU and its ally, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and those receiving support from a slate of pro-school-choice groups opposed to CTU’s influence. Some candidates fall outside either camp.
Most current board members align with CTU, in part because Johnson appointed half the board in 2024. But this election cycle, CTU has endorsed in only 15 races — in part because five are uncontested — leaving a steeper path to an 11-member board majority.
In many district-level races, the union has been significantly outspent by super PACs affiliated with Common Ground Collective and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. Collectively, those groups have spent more than $4.6 million against CTU-backed candidates.
The most expensive contest is by far the board president race, where three candidates are vying for the only citywide seat: current board member Jessica Biggs, former CTU deputy political director Hilario Dominguez and attorney Victor Henderson. Between fundraising and independent spending, nearly $8.7 million has been poured into that contest.
Biggs has reported raising $1.85 million since last fall, including support from SEIU and $1 million from Michael Sacks, a billionaire Democratic donor
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who has sought to counter CTU. Sacks has also injected millions of dollars into Common Ground, which bills itself as advocating for “effective progressive policies.”Dominguez has raised $1.75 million, almost entirely from CTU and the CTU-funded Our Schools PAC. Henderson, who has mostly self-funded his campaign, has raised $737,000.
Campaign cash has become a flashpoint in the bitter race, with candidates and their allies trading barbs over the influence of special interests. Common Ground and INCS have spent $3.1 million on ads targeting Dominguez alone.
District-level races have ramped up, too. Incumbent Che “Rhymefest” Smith is the only name printed on the ballot in District 10A, covering parts of South Shore, Woodlawn and Hyde Park. But he’s facing a CTU-endorsed write-in candidate, Tameka Walton, and said he’s treating her as a serious opponent. He’s focused on community events and digital ads, and is leaning on his record as an incumbent.
“I thought I would have the luxury of turning things down this year,” said Smith, a Grammy-winning rapper. “I did not have that luxury.”
Walton, a nonprofit executive who launched a write-in campaign after being removed from the ballot, said she has mounted an all-out effort with volunteers canvassing and camping out early voting sites. The aim is to “leave no stone unturned,” she said.
“I’m not taking any of this experience for granted, but I could really use a nap,” Walton said, laughing. Most residents in the district are following the citywide school board president race, but are less familiar with, or completely unaware of, the district-level contests, she said.
Awareness of the election itself has grown, though. About 77% of voters are aware of the school board election, up from 59% in May, according to a recent poll sponsored by the Chicago Public Education Fund. Still, only a third of the 1,062 registered voters surveyed said they knew their current board representative.
“It’s going to be the last question on the ballot,” said Nelson Gerew, the fund’s chief of internal and public affairs. “We’ll hope people will vote all the way through to them, but I was encouraged to see how much greater the awareness is now.”
On the North Side, Kyna Lenhof, a political fundraiser running in District 2B, said she’s excited by “how engaged people are regarding our public schools.” For her, the last few days are a continuation of weeks of voter outreach, and less of a last-minute ramp-up.
Most of the candidates are first-time office seekers, she noted. “When you talk to most of us, this is the first time we’ve ever done it, so we’re all just learning too, right?” Lenhof said. “People are just very energized, so it’s neat.”
Her opponent, incumbent Debby Pope, is a retired teacher endorsed by CTU. Pope said she’s spending the final stretch of the campaign at polling sites because the area has high early voting turnout. She has lived in the district, which covers parts of Lincoln Square, Edgewater and Uptown, for 46 years.
“I was passing by the Broadway Armory (polling site) at lunchtime yesterday, and about a dozen folks said, ‘Oh, I got you on this,’” Pope said. “It’s all encouraging.”