Austin residents watched the WTTW News mayoral forum live Tuesday. Among their top priorities was a commitment to working with West Side communities that have experienced disinvestment.

Logan Square residents watched the WTTW News mayoral forum live Tuesday. Some in the audience said they felt a disconnect from candidates, while others said candidates were giving talking points — not real answers.

The race for mayor is heating up and the attack ads are beginning to fly but in a nine-candidate field, how do you stand out from the crowd? Political analyst Jason DeSanto says math, message and money should be the focus. 

It is nearly unprecedented for City Council committee chairs to urge the defeat of the mayor that hand-picked them for their high-profile positions, which comes with power at City Hall and an annual budget of nearly $200,000.

Sean Estelle told WTTW News they believed they were “politically targeted” because their remarks angered Mayor Lori Lightfoot. 

The former Wadsworth Elementary School had been set to open as a shelter in early January, but an uproar forced Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to delay her plans for nearly a month as she and other city officials sought to address concerns from residents.

Tensions rose at this week's Chicago mayoral forum. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

The unsigned advisory opinion, issued Monday by the Chicago Board of Ethics, was prompted by a spate of campaign ads showing uniformed Chicago police officers and several complaints, officials said.

Paul Vallas is a Democrat, but acknowledged that the Democratic Party has moved away from him on some issues, including charter schools.

Supporters wearing campaign gear of an aldermanic candidate in the 48th Ward marched with an official contingent from Peirce Elementary School in a weekend parade. 

The Chicago City Council could vote on the deal as soon as March 1 – one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot and City Council members ask voters for new four-year terms in office.

When Chicagoans go to the polls to vote for mayor, there’s a crucial piece of information missing from their ballots: the candidates’ political parties. WTTW News Explains tells you the reasons why. 

At least 168 teachers received the email from Megan Crane, whose LinkedIn page identifies her as the deputy campaign manager for Lightfoot, starting at 8:33 a.m. on Jan. 11 and continuing for several hours, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

All Chicagoans can cast their votes early at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners supersite at 191 N. Clark St. and the board’s office at 69 W. Washington St., 6th floor. An early voting location will open in each of Chicago’s 50 wards on Feb. 13.

A spokesperson for the Jesús “Chuy” García campaign told WTTW News the ad was revised out of an “abundance of caution.”

A majority of candidates hoping to oust Mayor Lori Lightfoot from City Hall’s fifth floor office have pledged to reopen public mental health clinics. Lightfoot said her network of nonprofit Trauma-Informed Centers of Care provide better and more accessible service.