Chicago Teachers Union funds 3 in 5 Chicago aldermen, with big bucks to Socialists

The Chicago Teachers Union has funneled over $850,000 to the political committees of 30 of the 50 current Chicago aldermen since 2010. Seven Socialists received the most money.

When the Chicago Teachers Union wants to influence the Statehouse, it hands $1.3 million to nearly three-quarters of the Democrats. But when it wants to impact Chicago, it spreads $850,000 to 30 of 50 aldermen, with Socialists getting the bulk.

Although nearly every alderman in City Hall is a registered Democrat, a review of Illinois State Board of Elections records showed CTU most heavily funds Socialist candidates.

More than 60% of CTU’s contributions to sitting aldermen went to Socialists

CTU has contributed $856,211 to the political committees of 30 aldermen. CTU’s heaviest funding is directed to those who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America or the Democratic Socialist Caucus in City Hall:

• Over 60% – $521,920 – went to aldermen who have affiliations with Democratic Socialist organizations.
• CTU contributed nearly $75,000 to each Socialist alderman, on average.
• CTU contributed just over $14,500 to each non-Socialist alderman, on average.

This shows the union’s commitment to getting only the most radical candidates elected.

The seven avowed Socialist aldermen were in the top half of recipients in terms of amount of campaign cash received, with four of the seven being the top-four funded aldermen overall. Of the seven aldermen who received more than $50,000 in total from CTU, five were Socialists and all of them were progressives.

Taking in the most was Jeanette Taylor, Ward 20’s progressive Socialist alderwoman, who has collected over $139,000 from CTU since 2010, according Illinois State Board of Elections records. Following her was Byron Sigcho Lopez, Ward 25’s progressive Socialist alderman, who has received nearly $107,000 from CTU.

Of the 20 aldermen who have not received money from CTU since 2010, only one-quarter of them were progressives and none were Socialists.

Why it matters

Political contributions buy political clout – and CTU isn’t going to let that go to waste. In the 2023 fiscal year, CTU logged a record $3.05 million in political spending, triple the amount of the previous year. They’ve used that money to fund lawmakers and aldermen and to successfully push their own lobbyist, Brandon Johnson, into the mayor’s office.

This is all while teachers within CTU have complained about the union’s partisan spending. The political focus comes as test scores in Chicago Public Schools have dropped, as more teachers teach fewer students and as costs soar.

Political contributions and lobbying give CTU a one-two political punch and an advantage over parents and other Chicagoans whose taxes they seek. Polling and test scores show Chicagoans and other Illinoisans strongly disagree with CTU about what’s best for kids.