Nicole Lee, Chicago’s first Asian American Alderwoman, is facing a tight race in the city council elections.
Lee was appointed as alderwoman for the 11th ward by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in March 2022. She replaced Patrick Daley-Thompson after he was convicted of tax fraud and other crimes. The city council vote unanimously to confirm her.
In September, Lee announced that she would run in 2023 to remain in the position. She faces police officer Anthony Ciaravino in a run-off for a ward that includes Chinatown, Bridgeport, Armour Square and Canaryville.
There were several candidates running for the district. According to Block Club Chicago, Lee and Ciaravino were the two front-runners in the first round of voting earning 30.9 percent and 29.4 percent of the vote respectively. They head to a run-off on April 4.
Lee’s father, Gene Lee, was an aide for the former mayor of Chicago but left politics after being convicted of stealing from a Chinatown charity in 2014, The Chicago Sun-Times reports. Lee was hesitant to enter politics because of her father’s history.
“I’ve spent a lifetime not trying to be in my father’s shadow,” she told the Sun-Times.
Lee has said public safety and the economic development of the Halsted Street corridor south of 35th Street. According to Block Club Chicago, Ciaravino has emphasized his desire to reduce crime.
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Can we focus on Nicole Lee and not on her father? Look at her record to see if she was effective this past year or if she was just a token appointment. Her challenger claims Nicole does not have the police connections to control crime in the ward. But he works in the Chicago Police Dept. Why hasn’t he solved the “crime problem” before now? At a debate in Chinatown, he was trying to bully Nicole and repeatedly talked over the moderator, another Asian American woman. This shows why Asian Americans don’t engage police to report crimes. Can you be a good representative for a community when you do not understand that culture or know how to be respectful to that community?