Election 2026: Chicago votes today for first fully elected school board

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Chicago voters will make history today as they choose all 21 members of their Board of Education, ending 30 years of mayoral control of the city’s schools.

Every one who casts a ballot today will pick two people for school board - one to serve as school board president and another to represent their community. Find your district here.

The brutal election season drew more than $10 million in campaign money as special interests lined up behind their favored candidates. In all, 51 people filed to run, but several had their paperwork challenged and were removed from the ballot. Others withdrew or suspended their bids. Two incumbents faced no challengers, and in three other districts, there’s only one candidate on the ballot.

Special interest groups have drawn battle lines across the city. The Chicago Teachers Union is looking to elect one of it’s own as school board president and maintain an 11-member majority, while other special interest groups, including SEIU, the union representing school support staff, and Common Ground Collective, a new anti-CTU political action committee funded heavily by billionaire Michael Sacks, and other school choice groups hoping to prevent a union-backed majority.

Today’s election will complete the city’s shift to an elected school board that began in 2024 when 10 candidates were elected, while 11 were appointed by the mayor.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. Check back here later this evening for results.

President

The high-stakes race to become the city’s first elected school board president is a showdown between a teachers union candidate, a current board member backed by a coalition of labor groups and billionaires, and an independent self-funded candidate.

Former CPS principal and current school board member Jessica Biggs is backed by the union representing CPS support workers and the super PAC Common Ground Collective, former Chicago Teachers Union organizer Hilario Dominguez has the union’s support, and Victor Henderson, an attorney and board member at the charter Urban Prep, is running as an independent with his own money.

Whoever wins will set the board’s agenda and direction, and come January, will be a full voting member. Currently, the board president only gets a tie-breaking vote. Because the role is so important, the race has drawn millions in spending for negative ads and personal attacks about the candidates’ backgrounds. All three candidates faced intense public scrutiny for past controversies in recent months. Read more.

Find your district here.

O’Hare, Norwood Park, Forest Glen, Jefferson Park, Dunning, Edison Park

Ed Bannon, a current school board member appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, is trying to fend off Margie Luczak, a retired Chicago police officer backed by some of the local aldermen. Unlike some of the other school board races, Bannon and Luczak have two very different ideologies and approaches to governance.

Luczak has taken on a more anti-establishment role that could resonate in the Far Northwest Side, which leans more conservative than other parts of the city. Bannon is backed by both the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union and is a Johnson appointee, although he didn’t always align with the mayor’s agenda.

Campaign money for Bannon surged in recent weeks, but Luczak has benefitted from spending by the anti-CTU Illinois Network of Charter Schools. Read more.

Portage Park, Dunning, Irving Park, Belmont Cragin, North Park, Montclare, Albany Park

Though there is no incumbent in the District 1b race, voters may recognize Michelle Pierre, a seasoned education leader, who narrowly lost to Jennifer Custer in the 2024 school board elections. This time, Pierre is facing off against Claudia Peralta, an experienced community organizer supported by the city’s two major staff unions.

District 1b is one of the top school board districts for campaign fundraising, garnering more than $310,000 in contributions for both campaigns and more than $450,000 from special interest groups. Peralta is backed by CTU and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, whom Peralta works for. Pierre has raised nearly $100,000 from the Coca-Cola Company director David Weinberg, pro-charter school special interest groups, and venture capitalist Paul Finnegan. She is also backed by pro-school choice groups and the Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU political action committee funded by billionaire Michael Sacks.

The two candidates have diverging viewpoints on how to address Chicago Public Schools’ budget deficit, with Pierre emphasizing fiscal responsibility and auditing. Peralta wants more state funding. Read more.

West Ridge, Rogers Park and North Park

Ebony DeBerry is looking to stay on the Chicago Board of Education for at least another four years after being elected in 2024. Hector Morales, who serves as an attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, is her opponent.

To be successful in District 2a, both DeBerry and Morales must appeal to one of the most diverse districts along Chicago’s lakefront, which includes Rogers Park, a neighborhood home to a vast array of immigrant families. DeBerry is a lifelong resident of Rogers Park and taught at the neighborhood’s Sullivan High School. Morales volunteered in Rogers Park’s Gale Elementary School to teach kids how to make electronic music.

The distribution of campaign contributions is one-sided in District 2a, with most spending coming from DeBerry’s campaign. She has received direct financial support from the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU. Morales has not reported any contributions. Read more.

Lincoln Square, Edgewater, Albany Park, Uptown and North Park

Two former teachers are going head-to-head to claim this two-year term seat along Chicago’s Lakefront. The incumbent, Debby Pope, worked as a bilingual social studies teacher at CPS schools such as Benito Juárez Community Academy High School and Gage Park High School. Challenger Kyna Lenhof has worked at Easterseals Academy and Scammon Elementary School as a special education teacher.

A third candidate, Daniel Basco, will appear on the ballot despite suspending his campaign and putting his support behind Lenhof.

The two candidates both believe increased funding for CPS — and the equitable distribution of that money to schools — should be a top priority. Pope wants tax reforms that increase contributions from wealthy Chicagoans to fund public education as a way to see that through, while Lenhof has stressed the need to move away district borrowing via high-interest loans.

Pope is primarily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union’s political fundraising arm and the Chicago Working Families PAC, in addition to personal loans and some individual contributions. The bulk of Lenhof’s money comes from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, venture capitalist Paul Finnegan, and the anti-CTU Common Ground Collective. Read more.

Avondale, Irving Park, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Albany Park

Longtime community organizer and artist Norma Rios Sierra is hoping to hold onto the seat Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed her to in 2025. She faces a challenge from political newcomer Peter Gonzales, who has the support of school choice advocates.

Rios Sierra is backed by CTU and SEIU in one of five districts where the two unions are aligned. Gonzales is backed by the anti-CTU Common Ground Collective, the pro-school choice Urban Center, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. This is one of a handful of races where special interest money has been flowing fast in recent weeks. Common Ground has spent significantly to oppose Rios Sierra and support Gonzales, while INCS spent big on mailers and ads for Gonzales.

The two candidates differ on whether CPS should open more charter schools and whether schools should be given some kind of performance rating or letter grade. Read more.

Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin, West Town, Hermosa

A contentious rematch is underway to represent Humboldt Park, with incumbent board member Carlos Rivas Jr. facing Jason Dónes, a CTU-backed CPS dad who lost in 2024. The two Latino men grew up in the neighborhood. Both attended selective enrollment high schools in CPS, went to college, and returned to Chicago to teach through Teach for America.

Rivas is backed by SEIU, Common Ground Collective, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. Special interest groups and his own political action committee have spent more than $300,000 in support of his campaign. Dónes is backed by the CTU and has gotten a financial boost from Our Schools, a political action committee heavily funded by CTU.

In the past week, Our Schools sent mailers attacking Rivas for a 2018 incident when he was on staff at the Noble Network of Charter Schools and allegedly was disciplined for excessive drinking and unwanted touching of a colleague.

The two men hold similar stances on everything from school closures to restrictions on artificial intelligence in the classroom to school ratings. Read more.

Lakeview, Uptown, North Center and Edgewater

The race in district 4a on the city’s North Side has been among the most expensive and competitive. Retired teacher Karen Zaccor, a mayoral appointee and a staunch CTU ally on the current board, faces two challengers: Ellen Sherratt, who consults with districts and others on teacher quality, and Angel Alvarez, a stem cell researcher, CPS parent and advocate for students with disabilities.

The race drew massive spending in support of Sherratt by several groups seeking to loosen the teachers union’s firm grip on the school board, including the Common Ground Collective and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. District 4a was also among the ones where onetime close ally SEIU broke with the CTU in backing Sherratt.

Sherratt said she would set ambitious student achievement goals and decried a 2026-27 district budget padded with “phantom” money the state hasn’t approved that the CTU-aligned majority passed. Zaccor said she would push hard for more state funding and the continued expansion of the district’s Sustainable Community Schools program. Alvarez promised special education and other services more responsive to parent needs and feedback. Read more.

Lincoln Park, North Center, Lakeview and Logan Square

Current school board member Ellen Rosenfeld, a former CPS family engagement official and teacher, is running unopposed in the North Side district. She had been elected decisively in 2024 against five opponents, including Karen Zaccor, whom Mayor Johnson then appointed to the board. Zaccor is running for reelection in District 4a.

Rosenfeld is part of a block of board members who banded together to curb the influence of the CTU-aligned majority. She said the next school board should be less mired in politics and more focused on the student experience and outcomes. She also said the district must reckon with a decade of sharply declining enrollment, including by closing some severely underenrolled schools. Read more.

Austin, Humboldt Park, West Town and Montclare

The two people on the ballot and a third person running as write-in candidate are all CPS graduates and longtime West Side residents. But their education priorities are vastly different and this race is another proxy for the head-to-head battle between the CTU and other special interest groups that support school choice or are more generally against the union.

Aaron “Jitu” Brown, who is backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, is a community organizer and current board member who grew up on the South Side and helped push for an elected school board. LaPamela Williams is a Realtor and Austin native is backed by school choice groups Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center, as well as Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group that says it’s pushing for “effective progressive policies” and was heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks.

Kernetha Jones, the write-in candidate, is a retired special education teacher who doesn’t have major endorsements. Her top priority is overhauling sex education, which she claimed, without credible evidence, involves child pornography in CPS. She also supports creating voucher-based school choice in Illinois and hiring more Black teachers. Read more.

North Lawndale, Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park and West Town

Michilia “Kyla” Blaise, a political aide and current appointed member of the school board, is running against Anthony Hargrove, a former CPS employee and current nonprofit program leader. Both ran for school board in 2024 but Blaise dropped out before the election, and Hargrove was kicked off the ballot after a petition challenge.

This time around, Blaise and Hargrove competed with opposing endorsements and priorities for the economically diverse district, which stretches from the West Loop through North Lawndale and West Garfield Park. Blaise is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, while Hargrove is backed by SEIU, the union that represents CPS support workers, and Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks, which says it’s pushing for “effective progressive policies.” He’s also backed by pro-school choice groups Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center.

Blaise’s top priority includes securing more funding for CPS and revitalizing Marshall Metropolitan High School, which enrolls just 200 students. Hargrove wants to improve reading and math and special education.

Special interest groups that support Hargrove outspent the CTU and an aligned PAC 6 to 1 on this race, according to the most recent campaign finance records. Read more.

Near North Side and West Town

It’s been an expensive and bruising three-way competition to represent downtown Chicago and Wicker Park on the school board. Incumbent Anusha Thotakura, backed by the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU, is facing challenges from two newcomers: Isaiah White, backed by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and anti-CTU group Common Ground Collective, and Brenda Lee Anderson, who did not draw endorsements or funding from major special interest groups.

The groups supportive of White spent nearly $395,000 supporting his campaign — more than ten times what CTU or aligned groups spent on Thotakura, according to mid-October campaign finance records.

Thotakura’s and White’s top priorities are to improve academic achievement. Anderson’s goal is to fix CPS’ budget issues by pushing for more state and federal funding.

The race was rocky from the start. Anderson, whose pronouns are they/them, faced a challenge to their paperwork to appear on the ballot and said Thotakura was behind it. Thotakura has declined to comment on that accusation.

Since then, people from both camps have lobbed accusations against each other on social media. Anderson has accused Thotakura’s camp of making false claims about them on the campaign trail, while someone who claimed to be a volunteer with Thotakura’s campaign accused Anderson’s campaign of bullying and harassment. Read more.

Greater Grand Crossing, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Near South Side, the Loop, Douglas, Woodlawn, Englewood, Fuller Park, Hyde Park

Two political newcomers — South Side pastor Michael Neal and attorney Brittany Kimble — are competing without significant special interest backing to represent neighborhoods stretching from Lakeshore East and the South Loop through Greater Grand Crossing. Neal’s main priority is to improve early childhood education, while Kimble wants to improve academic achievement and fix the district’s budget.

Their district is one of two where neither the Chicago Teachers Union nor Service Employees International Union, which represents support workers in CPS, endorsed a candidate. But Neal did earn the endorsement of Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU group that says it’s advocating for “effective progressive policies” and is heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks, while Kimble was endorsed by Urban Center, a centrist, pro-school-choice group. Read more.

South Lawndale, Near West Side, Lower West Side, Garfield Ridge and Archer Heights

Emma Lozano, a pastor and immigrant advocate who was appointed to the board, is running against Jesus Ayala Jr., a former nonprofit leader who attempted to run in 2024 but was removed from the ballot after a challenge to his nominating papers.

In this majority Latino subdistrict, Lozano’s main priority is to secure more progressive revenue for schools and protect immigrant families in the wake of increased federal enforcement. Ayala’s focus would be to improve student academic achievement and access to student supports, such as bilingual services, at all schools.

Special interests who backed Ayala — the anti-Chicago Teachers Union group, Common Ground Collective, and pro-school-choice groups like Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center — spent $374,000 supporting his campaign. That’s compared with just $17,000 that the CTU and an aligned PAC, Our Schools Action, spent to support Lozano. Read more.

Brighton Park, Lower West Side, Archer Heights, Bridgeport, Gage Park, West Elsdon, Armour Square, McKinley Park

In this Southwest Side district, an incumbent who has been critical of charter schools faces a political newcomer who is backed by school choice advocates.

Yesenia Lopez, a former congressional campaign staffer who was elected to the board in 2024, is running against Erika E. Diaz-Chavez, a project manager for the Chicago Park District. Their district serves the highest percentage of Hispanic students of all board districts.

Lopez’s priorities, if reelected, include advocating for immigrant families and improving mental health support for students. Diaz-Chavez would focus on boosting student academic outcomes.

Lopez is endorsed by Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, which represents support workers at CPS, and Our Schools, a PAC that is heavily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union, though the union itself did not endorse either candidate in this district.

Diaz-Chavez is backed by Urban Center, a centrist, pro-school-choice organization. Read more.

Ashburn, Garfield Ridge, Clearing, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, West Elsdon

Angel Gutierrez, a current elected school board member and nonprofit leader, is effectively guaranteed another term representing the far southwest side district after no one filed paperwork to challenge him, and no write-in candidates declared themselves.

Elected in 2024 with the backing of school choice advocates, Gutierrez is part of a group of current board members who frequently vote against the CTU-aligned majority. His majority Latino district leans more conservative, and a higher proportion of children in 8a do not attend CPS schools. Those who do tend to choose their zoned neighborhood elementary schools.

Gutierrez is the current deputy director of institutional advancement for Enlace Chicago and formerly chief advancement officer at Chicago Hope Academy, a private school on the West Side. Read more.

New City, Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, McKinley Park, Bridgeport, the Loop, Brighton Park, West Lawn, Near South Side, Armour Square

Juan Ignacio González, a veteran Chicago Police Department detective and local coffee shop owner, is the sole candidate on the ballot to represent a sprawling district that stretches from the Loop southwest to Chicago Lawn.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran and the son of immigrant parents from Mexico, Gonzalez attended the University of Illinois Chicago. He said his top priority is high academic standards and improving math and reading instruction.

He faces a write-in candidate, Alexander Angeles, who joined the race in late August. Angeles is a recent high school graduate working two jobs while attending college. Also a son of immigrants, Angeles said he decided to run after the Chicago election authority kicked incumbent and Mayor Brandon Johnson appointee Cydney Wallace off the ballot due to challenges to her petition signatures. Read more.

Auburn Gresham, West Englewood, Englewood, New City, Ashburn, Washington Heights

Brittany Bailey Preston is all but guaranteed to become the school board representative for the Englewood and Auburn Gresham communities after the current appointed school board representative, Angel Velez, did not have enough valid signatures to make it on the ballot.

The wife of a state senator and mom of six is the only name on the ballot. In a social media post, Preston said she wants to make CPS “the most family-friendly school district in America.”

She and her husband, state Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago), previously ran a construction company and were student activists at Chicago State University. Read more.

Roseland, West Pullman, Morgan Park, Beverly, Mount Greenwood, Washington Heights

Two women with similar professional backgrounds are facing off to represent the far south side Beverly and Morgan Park communities. Incumbent school board member Therese Boyle was one of three independents to win in 2024 with no special interest endorsements or money.

Boyle is now drawing support from SEIU, the union representing school support staff, and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools as she faces a CTU-backed challenger Katherine Dunneback.

Boyle is a former CPS school psychologist, and Dunneback is a speech-language pathologist and former CPS mom. The two differ on school closings and supporting charter schools, with Boyle open to both in certain circumstances, while Dunneback said no to both. Read more.

South Shore, Woodlawn, Greater Grand Crossing, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Chicago, Douglas, Oakland

An incumbent school board member with high name recognition given his career as a Grammy-award winning hip-hop artist is facing a CPS mom running a write-in campaign to represent Chicago’s south lakefront.

​​Che “Rhymefest” Smith self-funded his successful win in 2024 and has put at least $80,000 toward his re-election campaign in 2026. Tameka Walton filed the required signatures to get on the ballot, but a validity challenge resulted in her name being removed. Still, she is running with the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union, which has included her in their endorsements, donated more than $38,000 to her campaign, and dubbed her one of their “public school champions.” Read more.

South Deering, Hegewisch, Riverdale, East Side, Chatham, South Chicago, Pullman, Calumet Heights, Avalon Park, Burnside, South Shore

The election to represent Chicago’s far southeast side neighborhoods of Hegewisch, Pullman, Chatham, and South Deering mirrors a fault line Chicago’s provincial politics pitting a candidate backed by the progressive left against an aide to a pothole politics-focused Democratic alderman.

Connie Anderson, a former CPS parent and record store owner backed by the CTU and recently appointed to the school board by Mayor Brandon Johnson, is facing Patrick Watson, a legislative aide to Ald. Anthony Beale, a frequent critic of the mayor. Watson is backed by SEIU, the union representing school support staff, and anti-CTU interest groups.

Also in the mix is a write-in candidate, former teacher Rosita Chatonda, who is not funded or endorsed by any special interest groups and has not filed any campaign finance paperwork. Read more.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.