Good morning, Chicago.
Last night’s elections caused some shakeups in the suburbs.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, facing his first hometown election since losing his 2022 gubernatorial bid, conceded to challenger Ald. John Laesch. “We fought hard. We fought long. Unfortunately, we came up short,” Irvin said on stage at his campaign’s watch party.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau also conceded in his bid for another term to challenger Jim Dodge. Pekau thanked supporters, telling them “I got shellacked” but that “we ran a great campaign.”
Other incumbents held on to their seats.
Following an unusually contentious and at times personal race, preliminary results show Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman received more than 6,000 votes to the 3,705 ballots cast for challenger Ravi Parakkat.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss declared victory over challenger Jeff Boarini after preliminary results showed he had captured about 60% of the vote.
And in Waukegan, former Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham is set to return to the role after declaring victory last night in his bid to regain the office he lost four years ago.
See more results at chicagotribune.com/elections.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what happened in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, how long New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with his marathon speech and the latest in a debated collegiate transgender athlete ban in Indiana.
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Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, cementing liberal majority
The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk yesterday, cementing a liberal majority for at least three more years.
Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who led legal fights to protect union power and abortion rights and to oppose voter ID, defeated Republican-backed Brad Schimel in a race that broke records for spending, was on pace to be the highest-turnout Wisconsin Supreme Court election ever and became a proxy fight for the nation’s political battles.
- Who is Susan Crawford? Wisconsin Supreme Court winner has fought for union and abortion rights
- Democratic-backed Wisconsin state schools chief Jill Underly wins reelection over GOP-backed rival
Cory Booker sets a record with marathon Senate speech
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” It wasn’t until more than 25 hours later that the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, finished speaking and walked off the floor. It set the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history, though Booker was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor.
Illinois AG Kwame Raoul warns legal community against ‘being complicit’ with Trump
Hours after joining 22 other states in filing a lawsuit aimed at President Donald Trump’s cuts to health services, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul told a City Club of Chicago crowd Tuesday that the legal community needs to stand up against what he described as intimidation and unlawful acts by the White House.
“If people think they’re being safe by being silent, by being complicit, you’re wrong,” Raoul said, after referencing recent executive actions taken by the Trump administration against the law firm Perkins Coie and others.
Illinois homeowners’ insurance premiums up 50% over three years, according to new report
While homeowners’ insurance premiums have been rising sharply in the post-pandemic landscape across the U.S. — from wildfire-ravaged California to hurricane-flooded North Carolina — rates are increasing faster in Illinois than all but one other state.
But beyond the extreme weather coastal hotspots that garner so much attention, rates in Illinois went up 50% between 2021 and 2024, second only to Utah, which saw a 59% increase, according to a new report released by the Consumer Federation of America.
Debate resumes over 8 p.m. curfew for teens downtown after boy is shot during ‘teen takeover’ in Streeterville
Mayor Brandon Johnson has resisted calls in the past for an earlier curfew, including last summer after a group of teens attacked a couple in Streeterville. He told reporters yesterday he was more interested in how to “invest in young people and create more healthy safe spaces for them.”
Despite Johnson’s resistance, some aldermen are convinced a stricter teen curfew is needed.
Lawsuit claims Chicago approval for cannabis store in Streeterville was illegal
A lawsuit is challenging the city of Chicago’s approval of a proposed cannabis dispensary in the Streeterville neighborhood, objecting that the store would be too close to a nearby school.
Lawsuit alleges Champaign abortion doctor left half a fetus inside Indiana patient, requiring emergency surgery
An Indiana abortion patient has accused a Champaign physician of perforating her uterus during the procedure and leaving half of a fetus inside her body, requiring emergency surgery afterward, according to a recent lawsuit.
Collegiate transgender athlete ban gets initial Indiana Senate approval
A bill that would ban transgender women from collegiate sports passed on second reading in the Senate, with amendments proposed by Democrats voted down by the Republican supermajority.
3 takeaways as the Chicago Bulls clinch a play-in tournament berth with a 137-118 win over the Toronto Raptors
Playoff hopes are alive and well in Chicago.
The Bulls punched their ticket to a third consecutive play-in tournament yesterday with a 137-118 win over the Toronto Raptors, snapping a two-game losing streak to improve their home record to 15-23 at the United Center.
National Public Housing Museum opens in Chicago, the first of its kind, with residents’ stories at its heart
The museum’s new space offers a permanent home for its roving presentations — now free of charge to visitors — which trace the history of public housing from its origins in the New Deal to the present day. But unlike the typical museum, the National Public Housing Museum offers a deeper, more personal engagement through $25 tours of its recreated apartment spaces.
Val Kilmer, film star who played Batman and Jim Morrison, dies at 65
Val Kilmer, a homegrown Hollywood actor who tasted leading-man stardom as Jim Morrison and Batman, but whose protean gifts and elusive personality also made him a high-profile supporting player, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 65.
The cause was pneumonia, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer. Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and later recovered, she said.
George Freeman, a trailblazing jazz guitarist who enjoyed a late-career renaissance, dies at 97
You could recognize George Freeman’s playing anywhere. When tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons and his sextet appeared as guests on WTTW in 1970, most members of the band generally hewed to the backing progressions. Then there was Freeman, daringly traipsing around their harmonic fringes in hard-rocking, blazing solos.
That was typical for the ever-adventurous Freeman, who died in Chicago yesterday. He was 97 years old. His death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark Freeman.
