Oh boy, the Chicago municipal elections are tomorrow...

As a blogger this is certainly my first city election and there were so many ways to keep track of it. I found grass roots blogs that really critique their respective aldermen. There were blogs run by newspapers such as Clout St by the Chicago Tribune and Clout City from the Chicago Reader that keep track of the city elections. There's even AlderTrack that keeps track of news in the various wards going into this election.

I really have a feeling that the election coming up is going to be good. I think some Aldermen are going to lose their jobs and yeah Daley is certainly going to have one more term as Mayor. Still this has been a cycle where there are plenty of stories to be told. And it's not the media who are telling the stories. Nope it's mostly everyday people.

BTW, I'm sure everyone here who are following the Chicago elections have favored wards they are tracking. The wards I'm watching the most in no exact order of importance are the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 25th, 42nd, 45th, 46th, 49th, & 50th wards. Some of these wards are probably of no surprise to you.

The 20th contains an alderman who is tainted by bribery. The 15th ward is an open seat so there's some excitement there. The 42nd because of Natarus and his young opponent. The 50th has been reported here, that should be interesting. Oh yeah the 49th looking at the blogs from there nobody likes Joe Moore, but we'll see if this means that Ald. Moore will lose his seat. The 7th well it's just a barometer (my 2 cents) of whether Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will be a force in the future. His wife Sandi Jackson is taking on the daughter and successor of the former 7th ward Alderman and current Cook County Commissioner Bill Beavers, Darcel Beavers.

Oh yeah why the 6th ward? Well I've noted on my blog how Ald. Fredrenna Lyle is one of my favorites on the city council. Unfortunately it seems, she is projected to face a runoff if not lose outright. One of her opponents, Karin Norington Reaves, has been endorsed by not only the Chicago Sun-Times also the Chicago Tribune. I could ask if an endorsement by any major newspaper will mean anything in some of these wards.

Finally, what are the issues in some of these campaigns. I've seen development a lot (either too much or lack of it) people complaining about the building of condos, a lack of affordable housing, a lack of buidling period (as is the case in the 3rd and 20th wards), and the lack of economic development. There's also issues of crime, this has been one issue in the 6th ward for instance. I'm sure there are other issues I am missing.

So I guess I'm going to open up the floor. What's going on in your neck of the woods? And be sure to vote tomorrow.