As the mayor who appointed her conceded her race Tuesday night, 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee was pushed into a runoff to defend her job representing Chinatown and the Daley stronghold Bridgeport.

Lee, the daughter of a Daley family loyalist, enjoyed a major fundraiser hosted by former Mayor Richard M. Daley and one of his brothers in the hopes she’d retain the seat their nephew Patrick Daley Thompson was forced from when he was convicted of tax fraud. 

But with four of every five votes counted in Bridgeport, Armour Square, Chinatown, Canaryville and East Pilsen, Lee had failed to garner 50% of the vote, and at times trailed ever so slightly behind Anthony “Tony” Ciaravino, a Chicago police officer and CAPS member. 

Early results showed both with about 31% of the vote. The next closest candidate was Chicago firefighter Don Don with 19%. Ambria Taylor, a teacher, had 12%. Chicago Public Schools civics teacher Froylan “Froy” Jiminez and business owner Elvira “Vida” Jiminez, had 2% each and attorney Steve Demitro had 1%. 

At Ciaravino’s party Tuesday night, music blared from large speakers and motorcycles donned the walls at Stockyards Garage in Canaryville where Ciaravino’s supporters were awaiting results. They sipped on refreshments and grazed snacks, surrounded by plenty of signs touting the slogan of the police officer: “Your safety is my concern.”

Lee’s supporters — many sporting sweatshirts and knit caps with her campaign logo — met her in the dining room at New Furama Restaurant, which boasts a location “at the crossroads of Chicago’s southside Chinatown and Bridgeport neighborhoods.” 

Sporting bright red Wonder Woman sneakers, Lee said she’s got her eyes set on the runoff.

“I’ve always known, with a seven-person race, a runoff was likely ... You hope for the best but you plan for contingencies,” Lee told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Lee said with a race likely to head toward a runoff, some voters likely chose to stay home — something she hopes to change in time for April’s race.

Another recent Lightfoot appointee in the 12th Ward, Anabal Abarca trailed her challenger, Julia Ramirez, to represent the McKinley Park and Brighton Park neighborhoods. 

With 82% of precincts reporting, Ramirez, a social worker and restorative justice practitioner, had 56% of the vote, with 44% for Abarca, whom Lightfoot named as alderman after former Ald. George Cardenas, for whom she worked, won a seat on the Cook County Board of Review.

The more established Southwest Side incumbents held firmly onto their CIty Council seats.

15th Ward incumbent Raymond Lopez, elected from a crowded field in 2015, held onto a massive lead all evening, holding 65% of the vote — 95% of precincts reporting. In second place was activist Victoria “Vicko” Alzvarez, with 23% of the vote, and then Gloria Ann Williams with 12% in the ward which, following the 2020 remap, includes portions of Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, Back of the Yards, Brighton Park, Canaryville, West Englewood, and the Stockyards. 

So did 16th Ward incumbent Stephanie Coleman in her first chance to defend herself. Coleman, who defeated Ald. Toni Foulkes in 2019, is the daughter of former Ald. Shirley Coleman. She had 77% of the vote, with 80% of precincts reporting. Trailing her with 13% was Carolynn Crump, an officer for the Chicago Police Department and a Chicago Park District security officer, and with 10%, Eddie Johnson III, a technology coordinator for the Chicago Public Schools. Neighborhoods of the 16th Ward include Englewood, Chicago Lawn, Gage Park and New City. 

18th Ward Ald. Derrick G. Curtis, who’s held the seat since 2015, a promotion from ward committeeman, was leading community organizer Heather Wills with 92% of precincts counted. Curtis, who made news last year when he accidentally shot himself, held 61% of the vote in the Ashburn, Scottsdale and Wrightwood neighborhoods and parts of Beverly, West Lawn and Chicago Lawn to Wills’ 39%. 

Matt O’Shea, first elected in 2011 when he was an aide to the longtime former alderperson, also readily sailed toward victory over two challengers in the 19th Ward home to many first responders and public sector workers in Beverly, Mount Greenwood and Morgan Park. With 89% of precincts reporting, O’Shea had 64% of the vote,  Chicago Police Sgt. Michael T. Cummings had 31% and computer consultant Timothy “Tim” Noonan had just 5%.