CHICAGO — Police Sgt. Chris Taliaferro is leading Ald. Deborah Graham with 77 percent of precincts reporting in the 29th Ward.
Taliaferro had 4,914 votes, or 50.9 percent, while Graham had 49 percent, or 4,737 votes.
In February, Graham received 40 percent of the vote in the eight-person race. Taliaferro, a lawyer and Police sergeant in the Grand Central District, garnered 22.5 percent. .
Lawrence Andolino received 15 percent, Bob Galhotra received 7 percent, Zerlina Smith received 5 percent, LaCoulton received 4 percent, and Oddis Johnson and Stephen Robinson received around 3 percent.
The ward includes Austin, Galewood, Belmont Heights, Montclare and Lawndale.
According to Austintalks.com, the runoff is unfamiliar territory for Graham, who defeated eight candidates to win the seat four years ago.
Since Jan. 1, she has outraised Taliaferro by more than $200,000. According to the report by Illinois PIRG, Taliaferro has raised shy of $32,000.
The money game hasn't scared Taliaferro, though. He told Austin Talks: “The vote is stronger than the dollar. It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of money to get the support of the community.”
Taliaferro was born in Virginia and has an extensive military background after joining the Marines after high school, according to his website.
In 1989, he moved to Chicago while still in the Marines, where he taught weapons and tactics during Operation Desert Storm. He also briefly served as deputy sheriff of court services with the Cook County Sheriff's Department, according to his site.
After joining the Chicago Police Department in 1994, he received his bachelor's degree from Lewis University in Romeoville and his law degree from the John Marshall Law School. He serves as one of the founding partners of Nexus Legal Groups and focuses on family law, according to the site.
Taliaferro has two daughters at Taft High School.
Graham, who received more than $2,000 from the Associated Beer Distributors, has been fighting to tighten BYOB regulations for two years.
In 2013, Graham sponsored a proposal to ban BYOB in dry precincts then pulled back on the proposal citing "pushback" from critics that it would have a bad effect on businesses making use of the practice, according to DNAinfo.
At the time, Graham said she's out to make sure "Chicago businesses continue to thrive" and would pursue a comprehensive BYOB ordinance. In 2014, Graham revisited the issue proposing limitations on the policy allowing alderman to set aside areas where BYOB would be permitted. The proposal, which was signed by 15 alderman, excluded restaurants.
According to a report authored by Dick Simpson, Melissa Mouritsen and Bezya Buyuker exploring City Council voting from June 2011 to November 2014, Graham has voted 100 percent of the time with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. According to Austin Talks, Emanuel's Chicago Forward PAC contributed more than $80,000 her campaign.
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