by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

In one of the more surprising twists of events, Chicago firefighter Nicholas Sposato defeated appointed Alderman John Rice in the April 5 aldermanic runoff election in the 36th Ward on the Northwest Side.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Sposato received 5,629 votes, or 56.3 percent of the total votes cast, to 4,378 votes, or 43.8 percent, for Rice, according to figures from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

“The feeling is overwhelming,” Sposato said. “We had great people behind us and I could not ask for a better outcome. And it’s not just a big deal to me, but a big deal to a lot of people. It’s a big deal for the firefighters and to the residents of the 36th Ward."

Sposato said that the feeling that he would become the next alderman has not hit him yet.

“I have to get through all of these phone calls first,” Sposato said.

In the Feb. 22 election Sposato forced Rice into a runoff after Rice received 6,756 votes (48 percent) compared to 3,373 votes (24 percent) for Sposato.

Sposato ran unsuccessfully against former Alderman William Banks in 2007, and this was his first runoff. Sposato has said that he ran against Banks before because he was concerned about the overdevelopment of large condominium buildings on Harlem Avenue.

“With Banks, it was a different story because he was a powerful alderman, and I’m not sure that I could have beat him and I was dealing with some other problems,” Sposato said. “But with Rice I got a lot of good people behind me after the February election who knew what they were doing and that’s why I’m successful tonight.”

Sposato said that he didn’t think that the results were a referendum on Rice.

“The election was a referendum on machine politics, and not just in the 36th Ward but all over the city. There are many more races still going on,” Sposato said.

Sposato said that he would work to attract commercial development in the area around Grand and Harlem avenues. He also said that he would work to retain police officers in the area and to hire more officers.

“This is huge. A time of more openness and transparency and communication is coming to the 36th Ward,” Sposato said.

Rice’s opponents in the Feb. 22 election said that he was not accessible to the residents, an idea that the alderman called ridiculous, saying that he returned phone calls within 48 hours.

Rice was appointed to the aldermanic post over 18 months ago and served as Banks’ chief of staff and said in the past that his many accomplishments included securing funding for a new library at Dever School as well as other funding for improvements at Sayre Park and Shabbona Park.