SOUTH SHORE — Martina “Tina” Hone has conceded the 5th Ward for alderperson to Desmon Yancy one week after election night results showed Yancy with a narrow lead in the race to replace retiring Ald. Leslie Hairston.
Hone, the city’s chief engagement officer under Mayor Lori Lightfoot from 2020 until September, conceded earlier this week. Yancy will be the next 5th Ward alderperson.
“Only about 400 votes separated Desmon and me,” Hone said in a statement. “That is despite the fact that he had more … money, the backing of the political establishment and an army of paid workers. My head is high and my heart is filled with gratitude.”
With all precincts reporting April 4, Yancy, a labor and community organizer who works as the director of community organizing for the Inter-City Muslim Action Network, held 51.8 percent of the vote to Hone’s 48.2 percent, according to unofficial results. Yancy declared victory at his election night party, while Hone said she would not immediately concede the race and hoped that more than 1,600 outstanding mail-in ballots could make up the difference.
RELATED: Desmon Yancy Declares Victory In 5th Ward Race To Represent Area Around Obama Presidential Center
Yancy’s campaign raised $257,823 through March 14, compared to Hone’s $47,727, according to state records.
The 5th Ward includes parts of Hyde Park, Woodlawn and South Shore. Yancy will represent an area that’s a hotbed of economic and political attention as the Obama Presidential Center is built within the ward in Jackson Park.
“This is a momentous victory — this is the first time the 5th Ward has elected a Black man to represent it,” Yancy said last week. “I’m just honored more than anything to represent the 5th Ward.”
Hairston has served as 5th Ward alderperson since 1999, when she beat out former Ald. Barbara Holt in a runoff. She announced in August she would not seek reelection and later endorsed Yancy to be her replacement.
Yancy and Hone emerged from an 11-person field as the top two vote-getters in the Feb. 28 election. The crowded 5th Ward race featured as many as 12 candidates before Adrienne Irmer was disqualified in January.
The new City Council will be sworn in May 15. Eighteen women will be sworn in to the council, tying the city’s all-time high set in 2007, according to the Sun-Times.
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