Ald. Leslie Hairston Announces She Won’t Seek 7th Term Representing South Shore on Chicago City Council

Ald. Leslie Hairston speaks with Paris Schutz on “Chicago Tonight.” (WTTW News)Ald. Leslie Hairston speaks with Paris Schutz on “Chicago Tonight.” (WTTW News)

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) announced Friday that she will not run for re-election to represent South Shore on the Chicago City Council in 2023, ending her career as an elected official after 24 years.

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“For more than 30 years, I have held jobs serving the public and it is time for me to look at the next chapter of my life,” Hairston said in a statement. “While I haven’t made any decisions yet, rest assured it will be active, engaged and committed to making my community better. It will just not be as alderperson.”

Hairston is the fifth member of the Chicago City Council to announce they will not run for re-election next year, joining indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward), Ald. James Cappleman (46th Ward), Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward) and Ald. George Cardenas (12th Ward.)

Ald. Sophia King (4th Ward), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward) announced bids for mayor in 2023.

Hairston, 61, won her seat on the City Council to represent South Shore and parts of Hyde Park and Woodlawn in 1999 and was re-elected five times. Hairston said it was an honor to represent one of Chicago’s “most independent wards” in the city, and hoped her successor would continue that tradition of “integrity, independence and perseverance.”

Only four other current members of the City Council have served as long or longer than Hairston. Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) was also elected to the City Council in 1999, and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) was elected in 1995. 

While Austin, the second longest-serving member of the Chicago City Council, has already announced her retirement, indicted Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) — in his 53rd year on the City Council — has not announced whether he plans to run for a 14th term in office.

Hairston was just one of five alderpeople to vote against the deal backed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley to lease Chicago’s parking meters spots to a private firm for 75 years in return for a one-time payment of nearly $1.2 billion.

That will leave Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) as the only member of the City Council who voted against the much-loathed deal.

Hairston was re-elected in 2019 by just 176 votes. She defeated activist William Calloway, who pushed for the release of the video that showed the police murder of Laquan McDonald in 2014.

A member of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, Hairston was not an ally of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and clashed with her over issues of police accountability — including how she handled the botched police raid of Anjanette Young.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]


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