James Cappleman Leads In Tight Race Against Marianne Lalonde For 46th Ward Alderman
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two-term Uptown Ald. James Cappleman leads in a tight race in the runoff election in the 46th Ward on Tuesday against scientific research consultant Marianne Lalonde.
With all precincts reporting, Cappleman held a 23-vote lead as of 10:10 p.m.
Lalonde came in a distant second in the first round of voting with 18 percent of the vote, but after Cappleman was forced into the runoff, two of his other challengers backed Lalonde.
Cappleman has criticized Lalonde for living in the ward for less than four years, claiming she hasn't accomplished much, and has tried to pad her resume by joining several community organizations. However, Lalonde has accused Cappleman of putting developers ahead of his constituents, and claims the alderman allowed too many developers to avoid building affordable housing in the ward by instead paying into the city's Low-Income Housing Trust Fund.
Lalonde said she refused all donations from developers, while Cappleman said he has a self-imposed policy of not taking donations from developers from six months before they request a zoning change and until 12 months after such a request.
Lalonde also said Cappleman has not done enough to combat crime in the 46th Ward, but Cappleman has said crime is down significantly during his eight years in office.
