Napolitano and O’Connor will be in runoff election on April 7 in 41st Ward aldermanic race

by BRIAN NADIG

The fate of the 41st Ward aldermanic race will not be decided until Tuesday, April 7, when a runoff election between Chicago firefighter Anthony Napolitano and Alderman Mary O’Connor will be held.

Neither candidate reached the required 50-percent threshold in the Feb. 24 municipal election, forcing the runoff.

With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, O’Connor, who is in her first term as alderman, had 6,728 votes (47.90 percent), Napolitano had 5,958 votes (42.42 percent) and Ace Hardware store owner Joe Lomanto had 1,359 votes (9.68 percent), according to unofficial election results from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

Some of the key issues in the race have been jet noise and police presence in the ward.

Napolitano was a police officer in the 15th (Austin) District before he became a firefighter, and O’Connor owns O’Connor’s Deli and Market, 7280 W. Devon Ave., and is a former president of the Edison Park Chamber of Commerce.

At a debate in January, Napolitano criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel for not addressing the needs of the 41st Ward. O’Connor has been an ally of the mayor, and she has said that she has worked with Emanuel to bring improvements to schools and parks in the ward.