45th Ward committeeperson race too close to call, but Rabbitt has comfortable lead 

by BRIAN NADIG

Michael Rabbitt appears to be in a good position to be the next 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson, as he had a 218-vote lead over Joe Cook with all precincts reporting as of Tuesday night.

Mail-in ballots will be counted through Tuesday, April 2, as long as they are postmarked by March 19, but it appears unlikely Cook could overcome such a deficit. 

Rabbitt’s victory can been seen as a victory for the progressive wing of the party in the ward, including state Representative Lindsey LaPointe (D-19) and former alderman and committeeperson John Arena.

LaPointe has given $22,000 to Rabbitt’s campaign, although he notes that he has had more than 300 individual donors.

Rabbitt would replace current committeeperson James Gardiner, who chose not to seek re-election. Gardiner remains the ward’s alderman, a post he has held since he defeated then-incumbent Arena in 2019.

In political circles all eyes will be on Rabbitt in 2027. Will he challenge Gardiner for the ward’s aldermanic seat or back a challenger? Rabbitt has said that his top priority will be rebuilding the ward’s Democratic organization and that seeking another elected post is not on his radar right now. 

As of Tuesday night Rabbitt had 3,823 votes, or 51.47 percent, compared to 3,605 votes, or 48.53 percent, for Cook.

Rabbitt said Thursday that the Chicago Board of Elections indicated there are about 2,000 outstanding mail-in ballots in the 45th Ward. Typically around 30 percent or more of mail-in ballots are not returned, and it is estimated that Cook would need to win about 60 percent or more of the remaining vote to have a chance at victory.

Rabbitt said that the race is still too close to call but that if his lead holds up, he credits the success to his grassroots team of volunteers who along with himself knocked on about 23,000 doors.

“I knocked on more than 10,000 doors,” Rabbitt said, adding that some homes received as many as two or three visits from the campaign. “I worked as hard in September, October, November, December as I did in January, February and March.”

Rabbitt said that his campaign team included volunteers from “across the entire ward.”

Rabbitt was endorsed by LaPointe and U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez (D-3). 

Cook, who was considered the more moderate choice, was endorsed by the firefighters union and several trade unions. The state’s two U.S. senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, also endorsed Cook.

Cook said that he wants to make sure “every vote is counted” but that whether he has a realistic chance at victory should be clearer by the end of the week as more votes are counted.

Both Cook and Rabbitt live in the Edgebrook/Wildwood area. Cook reportedly performed best in his home community, while Rabbitt did better in the southern half of the ward, which includes portions of Independence Park, Portage Park and Jefferson Park.

In addition, Rabbitt said that current vote totals from precincts in Gladstone/Rosedale Park and Norwood Park East indicate that he outperformed expectations in those communities, which include neighborhoods that Gardiner won in 2023 by significant margins. “I worked that area very hard,” Rabbitt said.

Currently Cook serves as the 41st Ward Democratic committeeperson but in 2024 had to run in the 45th Ward due to the citywide ward remapping that takes place every 10 years.

Cook said that in the 41st Ward he held open endorsement sessions and candidate/public official forums and that he would do the same in the 45th Ward.

Cook works as a principal attorney at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and serves as a major in the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps, where he is assigned to the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

In 2022 Rabbitt narrowly lost to incumbent and Chicago firefighter Michael Kelly in the Democratic primary for the Illinois 15th District House seat. Several years ago Rabbitt  helped organize an affordable housing group, which led the fight for a controversial mixed-income housing development at 5150 N. Northwest Hwy. in Jefferson Park.

Rabbitt works as a business transformation leader at the Argonne National Laboratory. He is part of a department that works on operational improvements and change initiatives at the company.

Both Rabbitt and Cook said that many of the voters they’ve met during the campaign asked for an explanation of the committeeperson’s role, which is unpaid.

One of their main responsibilities is to participate in their party’s slate making in which the selected candidates receive the party’s endorsement and possible campaign support. They also pick replacements when elected officials resign or retire before their term is up, as several Northwest Side legislators got their start when they were selected to fill out the remainder of someone else’s term.

Nowadays committeepersons often rely on social media to connect with voters, but there was a time when “ward bosses” doled out government jobs to those who served as a block or precinct captain.

These captains would knock on doors and deliver fliers during campaigns and also would bring constituent concerns back to the ward boss, who also might serve as the alderperson.

Over the years the courts have issued decrees aimed at ending political patronage, the process by which politicians give out jobs to their supporters and workers.

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