Nicholas Sposato (born October 7, 1958) is an American politician who serves on the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...

as alderman of the 38th Ward of the City of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on the city's Far Northwest Side. Sposato was elected as alderman for the 36th ward in 2011 in an election against incumbent John Rice, who was endorsed by then Mayor-elect

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

. After City Council wards were re-districted, Sposato was re-elected as alderman for the 38th ward in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Background

Nicholas Sposato was born October 7, 1958, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Before being elected to City Council, Sposato was a firefighter for 18 years and served on the Local School Council of Sayre Language Academy and president of the Trinity High School Father's Club. Sposato has

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and uses a wheelchair.

Aldermanic career

In 2011, Sposato was elected the serve as the 36th ward alderman, unseating incumbent John Rice. In the

, he was

redistricted Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

and won election in 38th ward. He won reelection in

. Ald. Sposato serves on six City Council committees: Public Safety, Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Special Events, License and Consumer Protection, Housing and Real Estate, and Committees, Rules and Ethics. In the runoff of the

2019 Chicago mayoral election The 2019 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 26, 2019, to determine the next Mayor of Chicago, Mayor of the Chicago, City of Chicago, Illinois. Since no candidate received a majority of votes, a runoff election was held on April 2, 2 ...

, Sposato joined Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, to which he belonged, in endorsing

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...

Sposato's politics have shifted to the political right over the course of his aldermanic tenure. Sposato was a member of the

Chicago City Council Progressive Reform Caucus The Progressive Reform Caucus of the Chicago City Council is a bloc of Alderman, aldermen in the Chicago City Council that was formed in 2013. Its stated mission statement is "creating a more just and equal Chicago, combating all forms of discrim ...

, but left the group in December 2016. By 2020, he was declaring his support for Republican President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and describing himself as a "rightie". Sposato says he didn't leave the Democratic Party but that the party has moved too far to the left. Tension had also been building within the caucus due to Sposato's refusal to support police-accountability measures. Sposato worries about socialists and "Commies" having too much influence in society. At a hearing about the fate of a Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park, Sposato said, "It's getting a little frustrating because we're letting the Commies win." Sposato is a social conservative when it comes to race and LGBTQ issues, and has faced criticisms for remarks on these subjects. When it was reported that people of color were issued more tickets in Chicago than white Chicagoans, Sposato offered an alternative explanation to counter arguments that others had made that the concepts of

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the Social privilege, societal privilege that benefits white people over Person of color, non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or ...

and

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organizati ...

offered explanations for this racial discrepancy, with Sposato being quoted as remarking that, "White people just know how to talk their way out of a ticket." Sposato raised the ire of Black aldermen during a committee hearing when he questioned why people from a predominantly Black area of the city had traveled to the Northwest Side of the city, which is predominantly white. Sposato came under criticism from the LGBTQ community for misusing the term "identifying as." This arose when, amid

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic local media asked Chicago aldermen about their COVID vaccination status, leading Sposato to offer a response that quipped, "You can identify as whatever you want these days, can't you? I identify as a vaccinated person." LGBTNation responded to this by saying, "This is part of a long pattern of people misconstruing the concept of gender identity as simply stating that a person is whatever they want to be – often just to win an argument or get some material benefit – instead of expressing a deep sense of one's own reality and living as a person's authentic self."

References

External links

Sposato website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sposato, Nicholas 1958 births 21st-century Illinois politicians American people of Italian descent American politicians with disabilities Chicago City Council members Illinois Democrats Illinois independents Living people People with multiple sclerosis American wheelchair users