Raymond Anthony Lopez (born May 26, 1978) is an American politician who is currently a member of the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mon ...

serving as alderman of the 15th Ward in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Lopez was first elected as Democratic Committeeman of the 15th Ward in 2012, becoming the first openly gay Mexican-American to be elected in Illinois. On April 7, 2015, Lopez was elected alderman of the 15th Ward. The 15th ward includes the West Englewood, Brighton Park,

Back of the Yards New City is one of Chicago's 77 official community areas, located on the southwest side of the city in the South Side district. It contains the neighborhoods of Canaryville and Back of the Yards. The area was home to the famous Union Stock Ya ...

, and Gage Park neighborhoods.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Lopez is a graduate of St. Laurence Catholic High School. Lopez was first introduced to politics at the age of 18 when he became a precinct captain under the

William Lipinski William Oliver Lipinski (born December 22, 1937) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2005, representing a district in Chicago. Life and career Pre-congre ...

organization of the 23rd Ward on the Southwest Side of Chicago. He studied at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois s ...

. Prior to his political career, Lopez worked as a

skycap A skycap is a porter employed at an airport and provides the following services to airline passengers: * Handles luggage, strollers, and car seats * Performs curbside check-in * Assists disabled or wheelchair passengers By tradition, skycaps are ...

for

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the ...

Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

. He was a skycap for 12 years.

Career

In 2011, Lopez ran unsuccessfully for

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

of the 15th Ward, forcing the incumbent into a run-off election. In 2012, after the incumbent Democratic Committeeman withdrew from the race, Lopez ran unopposed. In 2012, as a result of redistricting following the 2010 United States Census, the demographics of the 15th Ward changed. Previously, the 15th Ward only included the neighborhoods of Chicago Lawn/Marquette Manor and West Englewood. The new 15th Ward (c. 2012) now includes significant portions of Brighton Park, Back of the Yards, Gage Park, and New City, with West Englewood still remaining.

Chicago City Council

In 2015, Lopez again ran to represent the newly redrawn 15th Ward on the Chicago City Council. In a primary field of seven candidates, Lopez narrowly missed winning outright by 127 votes. In the April 7, 2015 run-off election, Lopez successfully obtained 58% of the total vote. On May 18, 2015, Lopez was sworn in along with the mayor, city treasurer, city clerk, and 49 other alderman at the

Chicago Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaba ...

. In the first round of the

2019 Chicago mayoral election The 2019 Chicago mayoral election was the 2019 edition of the quadrennial elections held to determine the Mayor of the City of Chicago, Illinois. The election was held on February 26, 2019. Since no candidate received a majority of votes, a run ...

, Lopez endorsed Gery Chico for mayor.

2023 Chicago mayoral election

On April 6, 2022, Lopez announced his intention to run in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election. No Chicago City Council member has ever been elected mayor, although two have been appointed to the office to fill vacancies. On November 21, 2022, after fundraising and collecting petition signatures to run for mayor, Lopez instead dropped out of the race and filed to run for re-election to city council.

Criticism of Lori Lightfoot

Lopez has emerged as a top critic of Mayor

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as a ...

in the City Council. On May 31, 2020, during a conference call with all 50 Chicago aldermen regarding

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

in response to the police

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

, Lopez got into a heated argument with Lightfoot over her supposed insufficient response to “looters,” culminating with the two swearing at one another.

Personal life

Lopez is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He refers to his dogs as his “children” He is married to Hugo Lopez.

References

1978 births 21st-century American politicians Chicago City Council members Gay politicians LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people American LGBT city council members LGBT people from Illinois Living people Mexican-American people in Illinois politics {{Illinois-politician-stub