Aurora Ald. John Laesch announced Sunday he will run for mayor of the city in the 2025 election.
Laesch, one of two alderman-at-large members of the Aurora City Council, made official what had long been rumored, that he will make his second try for the head of city government.
“I want to move the city forward in a different direction,” he said. “I want a government and economy that works for everybody, not just the wealthy.”
Laesch said he would focus on clean drinking water, public access broadband, clean energy, public safety based on youth intervention, businesses that pay a living wage and more home ownership.
He also said as mayor he would call for more financial oversight of the Aurora Civic Center Authority.
Laesch is the second candidate to declare for mayor. Karina Garcia, Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president, announced a run for mayor earlier this year through social media. They both are expected to face Mayor Richard Irvin, who would be seeking his third term in office, although he has not officially announced a run for re-election yet.
This is perhaps one of the earliest candidates have announced for a mayoral race, some nine months before the April 2025 election.
If more than three candidates end up filing in December for the mayoral election, there would be a February 2025 primary. If three or fewer file, there would be only the general election in April.
Laesch ran unsuccessfully against Irvin in a three-way race in 2021, when Irvin was running for his second term.
Irvin won 55% of the vote in that election, with Laesch polling third with about 21%. Judd Lofchie, a 10th Ward alderman at the time, ran second, with about 23% of the vote.
It was a different story for Laesch when he ran for alderman-at-large in 2023. He won the three-way race with about 54% of the vote, beating incumbent Sherman Jenkins.
He said Sunday in that race, “people were energized by the fact that we are able to listen to them.”
Laesch has consistently worked against the city’s use of tax increment financing districts, describing them as handouts to for-profit businesses.
He campaigned especially hard against the TIF district created for the relocation of Hollywood Casino-Aurora from downtown to a Farnsworth Avenue location near Interstate 88. That redevelopment deal included the city giving Penn Entertainment, the casino’s parent company, $50 million up front, which would be paid back by the proceeds from the TIF district.
He has also consistently voted against contracts for corporations that have made political donations to the mayor or other aldermen.
slord@tribpub.com
