Primary 2024 results in the 40th Ward by Committeewoman Maggie O’Keefe

The 40th Ward Dems 2022 Impact Report

My name is Bridget Degnen and I am the Cook County Commissioner for the 12th District. The 12th District runs from River North all the way up north through the 40th Ward and Lincoln Square, and then it runs straight West all the way to Portage Park and the 38th Ward. It covers parts of 14 different Chicago wards and contains about 330,000 people.

Last week, an anonymous neighbor sent a letter to the 47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin that threatened KJ and attacked the work of social justice advocates. Hate has no home in the 40th Ward, the 47th Ward, or anywhere. These kinds of harmful and cowardly threats do not represent the 40th Ward - and we showed up in numbers on Sunday to support KJ and to say that message loud and clear.

The election has already begun and people are casting ballots. I joined this movement to support better funding for education; for the refugee child I tutor, for the school where I volunteer, and for the universities that train our best principals and teachers. Serve Illinois by passing this referendum and rejecting the lies.

Whether you are a first-time voter or have been voting for years, every election offers an opportunity to have your voice be heard. For Andre Matlock, his first vote was in 1972.

Ana Lopez-Alcantar, the 40th Ward Deputy Committeeperson and youngest in Chicago’s history, lives in Andersonville. She is especially excited to have the opportunity to study world events and apply them to her long-held interest in politics, especially this year’s election process.

So I’m prepared to see voters line up, six feet distanced, at the 40th Ward precinct where I’ll be working, out the door and down Western Avenue, around the corner down Peterson Avenue, and west a couple of blocks. I picture them sending emissaries down the street to Wolfy’s, picking up hot dogs to sustain them as they wait in line to take their country back.