- Kamil Krzaczynski/AP Photos
- No one is running against Harry Osterman in the 48th Ward.
With Thanksgiving coming up, let’s give thanks for the good things in life—like the February 24 aldermanic elections.
Well, technically you do get to vote. You just don’t get a choice in who you vote for, as the filing deadline passed on Monday, and no one filed to run against your incumbents.
Alderman Reilly didn’t have a challenger in the last election either, so presumably people in the 42nd are so grateful they’ve bequeathed him the office for life.
This goes back to 2002, when he was challenged by Jason Farbman, a 24-year-old waiter who was running as a Green Party candidate. Osterman brought in the legendary Michael Kasper—one of the most influential election lawyers in the land—to knock Farbman from the ballot for one technicality or another.
When a powerless third-party candidate makes a mistake, it’s an egregious assault at the very heart of our democracy.
So I propose that the Seventh send some of its candidates to run in the 48th. That way Edgewater’s voters won’t feel left out.
