Three wards on the far South Side will be sending new faces to the City Council.

In the 6th Ward, Pastor William Hall declared victory Tuesday night in the runoff against Richard Wooten to replace outgoing Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

And in the Southeast Side’s 10th Ward, police Officer Peter Chico declared victory while holding a wide gap over community organizer Ana Guajardo to succeed retiring Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza.

But it was too close to call the runoff in the 21st Ward, where Cornell Dantzler and Ronnie Mosley were battling to replace outgoing Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.

6th Ward

Hall — backed by the Chicago Teachers Union — led with 59% of the vote over Wooten with 93% of precincts reporting.

The ward — which includes Chatham, Park Manor and Grand Crossing — still has 1,280 mail-in ballots that haven’t been returned, which was less than the gap in votes between candidates.

Hall, pastor at St. James Community Church, greeted dozens of supporters at an election night party at the Thea Bowman Lyceum Center, 6550 S. Harvard Ave.

“The people have spoken,” Hall told the Sun-Times. “I want to say it’s a new day in the 6th Ward. Let’s build on what we’ve got.”

Hall then took the microphone and told the crowd: “Tonight we go to bed dreaming, but April 5 we get ready to go to work.”

Hall was endorsed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Sawyer and had reported more than $230,000 in contributions, with at least $62,000 from the Chicago Teachers Union.

Hall out-raised his competitor, Wooten, who had reported $67,000 in contributions, with several thousand he gave to his own campaign.

Hall, 38, narrowly came in first place in the Feb 28 election, with about 70 more votes than Wooten.

Wooten, 57, is founder of Gathering Point Universal Ministries in Washington Heights and president of the Greater Chatham Alliance. A retired Chicago police officer, Wooten has sought the City Council seat twice before.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

10th Ward

Chico led with 62% of the vote over Guajardo, with 88% of precincts reporting in the ward where Sadlowski Garza retired after two terms. Nearly 700 mail-in ballots remain unreturned.

Standing before supporters Tuesday night, Chico said: “What we do today, and in the next four years, is going to transform the 10th Ward forever.”

Guajardo had not yet conceded the race Tuesday evening, according to her spokesperson, Josh Kilroy.

Chico is a Chicago police officer and a cousin of former Chicago Board of Education President Gery Chico. Peter Chico worked for United Way and in child welfare services before becoming a police officer.

Despite being out-raised by his competitor 2-to-1, Chico still managed to gain overwhelming support in the Southeast Side ward.

Chico reported $136,000 in contributions, including a $10,000 donation from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and $6,500 from the Fraternal Order of Police. 

Kevin Tanaka/For the Sun Times

Guajardo, 44, an Army National Guard veteran, raised $298,000, mostly from labor unions, including more than $122,000 from political action committees associated with the Service Employees International Union.

Guajardo has been a labor organizer for decades. She founded Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, or United Workers Center, to serve the Southeast Side’s immigrant and low-income worker communities.

21st Ward

The race was still too close to call in the 21st Ward, where Dantzler held a slim lead with 51% of the vote over Mosley, with 93% of precincts reporting.

Dantzler was leading by 308 votes. The ward has nearly 1,600 vote-by-mail ballots that remain unreturned.

The 21st Ward encompasses Auburn Gresham and parts of Chatham, Roseland and Washington Heights.

Provided

Dantzler, a retired firefighter, raised more than $96,000, including more than $59,000 from the Chicago Firefighters Union.

He said his priority is cleaning the neighborhood sidewalks of trash and clearing neglected buildings. He also wants to help residents expunge their criminal records to make it easier to find jobs.

Mosley, a longtime community organizer, received endorsements from Brookins, who announced his retirement after nearly 20 years, and also won support from Pritzker, City Clerk Anna Valencia and Ald. Michelle Harris.

Mosley, 31, has said he’s prepared to be alderperson because he has worked in community engagement since he was 14, and he worked in the office of Ald. Harris.

Mosley raised about $290,000, with large contributions from Pritzker and labor unions, including the Chicago Teachers Union.

Contributing: Michael Puente of WBEZ

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times