CHICAGO — Brian Hopkins and Alyx Pattison — the top two vote getters in last month's election who are vying to represent the city's sprawling and most gerrymandered ward — will appear on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" on Wednesday.
Hopkins, a former chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner John Daley, and Pattison, a lawyer, are approaching the half-way mark in a six-week-long runoff election where voters will also elect a mayor.
Set for 7 p.m. on WTTW- Channel 11, the segment, "The New 2" will be moderated by show hosts Phil Ponce and Carol Marin.
Next week, Hopkins and Pattison are scheduled to participate in a debate set for 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. March 24 at Columbus Elementary School, 1003 N. Leavitt St. in Ukrainian Village, two weeks before the runoff.
Greg Hinz, political editor from Crain's and Hal Dardick, a City Hall reporter from the Tribune will be moderating the 75-minute forum, which is co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association, the East Village Association and the Wicker Park Committee.
Questions for the March 24 event can be posted to the event's public Facebook page.
In the Feb. 24 election, 9,828 votes were cast in the 2nd Ward. Hopkins won 29 percent or 2,850 votes, while Pattison trailed him with 24.15 percent and 2,373 votes.
"The runoff will allow us to talk about the issues more in-depth, in a way we couldn't with four other candidates," Pattison previously said.
Hopkins said, “An open seat in a brand new ward and people wanted to talk about the issues. I am honored to be the first place finisher and that gives me a great deal of momentum going into the runoff."
The boundaries of the 2nd Ward make their way west from the lakefront through at least seven neighborhoods, weaving and snaking through, at times, single blocks of Streeterville, the Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and Bucktown.
On Tuesday, Pattison released the latest issue of her weekly e-newsletter, "New Two News," where she solicited feedback from readers on their opinions of what shape the new 2nd ward looks like.
"I've always thought that the Second Ward looks like a Transformer, but it's hard to argue with people who think it looks like a lobster. Let us know what you think the Second Ward looks like here. We'll share the funniest answers in next week's newsletter!" Pattison wrote.
Hopkins' campaign fund had $76,894.28 at the close of the third quarter on Dec. 31. Since then, he had raised $134,186.26 from 50 individual contributions, records show.
Some of Hopkins' largest supporters are Citizens for Reilly, which contributed $37,281.14 for two mailings and the Chicago Association of Realtors, which contributed $5,000.
Pattison had $134,921.08 in her campaign coffers at the close of the third quarter on Dec. 31. Since then, her campaign has raised an additional $47,110 from 31 individual contributions.
Some of Pattison's biggest backers are Classic Tickets, Inc., which gave $10,000; Leo Smith, president of Differentiated Instructional Technologies, who gave $3,910; and @properties, which contributed $2,500, records show.
Significant 2nd Ward development projects include a proposed Audi dealership at 1521 W. North Ave. and a 20-unit condo development, The Belfry, coming to the former St. John Church and School, 913-25 N. Hoyne St.
The redevelopment of the A. Finkl & Sons Co. steel plant site, roughly 28 acres of prime real estate along the river bordering the western edge of Lincoln Park, is the largest project in the "New 2" as some folks have been calling the ward.
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