Sposato to resign as committeeman but will run for re-election as alderman
by BRIAN NADIG
Alderman Nicholas Sposato plans to resign as 38th Ward Democratic committeeman and is recommending state Representative Robert Martwick (D-19) as his replacement.
Sposato sent a resignation letter along with his replacement recommendation to the Cook County Democratic Party, which is expected to approve Sposato’s successor in a few weeks. Sposato said that he will run for re-election as alderman in 2019.
In the past, Sposato has criticized the Democratic Party as becoming too liberal and that the party did not reflect his more socially conservative views. He resigned last year from the Chicago Progressive Caucus of City Hall, although he said at the time that he would continue to support the caucus’ pro-union agenda.
"I’m really an independent," Sposato said Monday. While serving as a Democratic committeeman, Sposato once publicly encouraged his constituents to vote for a Republican, former state comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who died in 2014.
Sposato said that relinquishing the committeeman’s post would give him more time to be alderman, a job that he described as "very demanding, very consuming, (and) intense." The primary job of a committeeman is to help slate candidates and get out the vote in his or her ward.
Sposato, who served as a firefighter before entering politics, was elected to the 36th Ward aldermanic post in 2011, defeating incumbent John Rice, and then in 2012 was elected 36th Ward committeeman. In 2015, he had to run for the 38th Ward aldermanic seat due to redistricting and then won the 38th Ward committeeman’s seat.
A former Village of Norridge trustee, Martwick became a state legislator in 2013, replacing Joseph Lyons, who retired. In 2014 Martwick moved into the 38th Ward, which includes a large portion of Portage Park.
Martwick’s father, Robert Martwick Sr., recently announced that he would not be seeking re-election as a Norwood Park Township Democratic committeeman, a post which he has held for nearly 50 years.
