- Credibility:
NORTH LAWNDALE — After a contentious race, Ald. Monique Scott held onto her 24th Ward seat in Tuesday’s election.
With 19 of 20 precincts reporting Tuesday night, Monique Scott held 64 percent of the vote to challenger Creative Scott’s 32 percent, sealing her first full term, according to early results.
At an election night party Downtown, Monique Scott thanked her supporters Tuesday night — and vowed to revive the West Side.
“On this day in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and a day later, we burned the West Side to the ground,” she told supporters. “We have been disinvested in ever since. Starting today, we are going to reclaim and revive this community.”
Credit: Trey Arline/Block Club ChicagoMonique Scott and Creative Scott, who are not related, emerged from eight candidates Feb. 28 with 45.3 percent and 14.8 percent of the vote respectively. Since neither received at least a 50 percent majority, the race went to a runoff.
The ward includes the North Lawndale neighborhood.
Monique Scott was appointed to the City Council seat in June, replacing her brother, Michael Scott Jr, who resigned to take a job with Cinespace and was later appointed to a seat on the Chicago Board of Education.
“She’s gonna be a better alderman than I ever was,” her brother said Tuesday night. “She loves this community and she is more than prepared to do the job.”
Creative Scott ran as an outsider frustrated by the state of the ward, with issues ranging from crime to disinvestment. He previously ran for the seat in 2019 and came in second place to Michael Scott Jr.
“I love making it to a runoff, my team is amazing,” Creative Scott said late Tuesday. “We had a great experience. It was a hard battle, but we kept going and didn’t give up.”
He said he would keep working in the community moving forward.
“I pray for a safer ward,” he said. “I pray we have more economic development and a more solid community. I am not giving up and I’m going to continue to do what I can.”
Monique Scott faced accusations of nepotism when she was appointed to her brother’s seat. In addition to her brother, their father, Michael Scott Sr., was a key ally to Mayor Richard M. Daley and was the president of the Chicago Board of Education during his administration.
She addressed criticism about the seat staying in the family after her victory.
“For those claiming nepotism, take note,” she said. “The community has spoken.”
Monique Scott has pledged to oversee new developments in the ward, believing that developments such as the cleanup of Mount Henry would be greatly beneficial to to the ward.
Monique Scott will be sworn in at City Council on May 15.
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