UPDATE: 50.10%! But not final yet—waiting for March 15
Ald. Daniel La Spata watches volunteers and staff announce thank yous at election night watch party at the Subterranean stage in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago on the evening of February 28, 2023 (Campaign Photo / Chris Ridgeway)
“It’s a nmail-biter.” Ald. Daniel La Spata holds a 2X vote lead over challengers, but the required 50% threshold has withheld a declared winner in the 1st Ward. The result will be announced 2p Wednesday, March 15, after the last legal day for mail-in votes.
The election in the 1st Ward has come down to counting mail-in ballots & provisional ballots, a process managed by the Chicago Board of Elections.
Counting can continue through March 14, the last day by law to count ballots for the Feb 28 election. See updates below.
Updates
Monday, March 13 We expect final results to be confirmed at 2p on Wednesday, March 15.
SATURDAY, March 11 
Unofficial vote totals from the Chicago Board of Elections as of Saturday, March 11, 2023.
While mail-in ballots (postmarked by election day) can still arrive and be counted legally until Tuesday, March 14, we were informed by the Chicago Board of Elections that they have counted all 1st Ward ballots in their possession, and we expect very few additional ballots.
Provisional ballots are the last to be counted in the process. The Chicago Board of Elections confirmed 25 of these were verified and counted on Saturday.
Tweet update from Chris Ridgeway, communications director for La Spata Campaign:
Wednesday, March 8 5.30p Update Monday, March 6Alder Daniel La Spata tonight crossed the magic 50% number that will be needed to win the 1st Ward election outright as mail-in ballots continue to be counted.
This number is not final as more votes may still have to be processed. The wait follows nearly a week of waiting every day as an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots have been processed by the Chicago Board of Elections.
March 6, 2023 snapshot of current election totals from https://www.chicagoelections.gov/en/election-results.html
March 4, 2023 snapshot current election totals from https://www.chicagoelections.gov/en/election-results.html
Background
What happened on the February 28, 2023 election?
No confirmed winner has been declared in the 1st Ward alderperson’s race as the results are a fraction of a percentage away from an outright win for Alderman Daniel La Spata, and mail-in votes continue to be counted.
Did Daniel win the election?
Almost, but not yet! Daniel continues to hold an overwhelming lead at over double the number of votes to his nearest opponent, but Chicago election rules also require 50% of the total vote to win outright. If 50% is not crossed, Daniel would be in a runoff election on April 4.
On election night, Daniel held 49% of the vote.
The number has steadily increased each day since the election as the Chicago Board of Elections has issued daily reports of mail-in ballots tabluation.
On March 6, Daniel’s vote count crossed the threshold to 50.10% of the vote. This was worth celebrating, but was not final—the number is subject to change until all votes are counted.
When will we know the result?
UPDATE: the Board of Elections has scheduled 2p on March 15 for final results announcement.
Probably Tuesday March 14 or 15. We don’t know for certain.
Each day, the Chicago Board of Elections has processed mail-in ballots. Ballots that were postmarked by election day are valid and may be counted—but first they have to arrive in the mail! About 4,622 1st Ward mail-in ballots had not been returned as of election day.
The campaign has no special insider track to voting data, so each day we are monitoring the Chicago election website as they tend to publish their daily count updates between 5-6p.
The board has said they will continue counting votes and updating totals on a rolling basis up through March 14 if necessary.
Is this a surprise?
We expected to be in the lead, but we also were planning for a runoff election.
In any race with 4 candidates, a runoff is mostly likely under these rules because the vote is split and even a clear leader will have trouble reaching 50%.
The bonus surprise for our campaign team has been that our community support was so strong to put us nearly over the top in the first round even with 3 challengers. We remain optimistic regardless of this outcome.
Will Daniel be in a runoff election on April 4?
If 50% is reached with the completed count in this election, Daniel wins the election outright. If not, we’ll be in the runoff election.
The top two candidates advance: Daniel is guaranteed to advance.
If we are in the runoff, we’ll need our supporters out in full force on April 4, 2023 to help us cross the finish line.
What is the campaign staff doing right now?
We’re still working! Unless we know for sure, we’re working hard to continue engage the community, with positive results either way. Campaign manager Josh Kaufman says, “We’re working like we’re 5 points down!”
New volunteer opportunities are scheduled: check the volunteer schedule here.
What is Daniel doing right now?
Working! As the sitting Alderman for the 1st Ward, the week after the election, Daniel has been focused on efforts with Chicago City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee in response to traffic-related deaths.
