George Cardenas

George A. Cardenas (born October 9, 1964) is alderman of the 12th Ward of the City of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to his first term on the Chicago City Council in 2003.

George Cardenas
Member of the Chicago City Council
from the 12th ward
Assumed office
May 2003
Preceded byRay Frias
Personal details
Born (1964-10-09) October 9, 1964
Santiago, Mexico
Political partyDemocratic
Children2 daughters
EducationNortheastern Illinois University (BA, MA)

Early life

Cardenas was born in Santiago, a small town in the mountains of central Mexico. Cardenas and his family moved to Chicago in 1978 where he attended Lane Tech High School. After graduation, he joined the Navy for four years. He earned his bachelor's degree from Northeastern Illinois University and went on to work as an auditor and a substitute teacher in public schools. Cardenas later became a business consultant and went back to school to earn his master's degree in political science from NEIU.

Election

Cardenas first ran for alderman in 2003. Cardenas was supported by the powerful and controversial Hispanic Democratic Organization, a group with strong ties to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. In a 3-way race in February 2003, Cardenas and incumbent Alderman Ray Frias were the top two vote-getters, but neither earned a majority, forcing a run-off election scheduled for April 2003. Frias withdrew his candidacy prior to the run-off, cancelling the run-off, and leaving Cardenas as the winner.[1]

Aldermanic career

Cardenas has won reelection in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.

Cardenas is the Chairman of the City Council Latino Caucus and the City Council Committee on Health & Environmental Protection. He is also a member of eight committees: Committees, Rules & Ethics; Finance, Budget, Education, Housing and Real Estate; Aviation and Zoning.[2]

In the runoff of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Cardenas endorsed Lori Lightfoot.[3]

Political career

In 2006, Cardenas lost to Ald. Ricardo Muñoz in the race for state central committeeman for Illinois' 4th Congressional District, a Democratic Party post. Cardenas served as a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.[4]

Professional career

Before joining government, Cardenas accumulated over a decade of experience working for Fortune 500 companies, including Centel Corporation, McDonald's Corporation, Andersen Worldwide, Tenneco Corporation, Ameritech/SBC Corporation.[5]

Personal life

Ald. Cardenas is married and has three young daughters and lives in Little Village.

References
  1. "Election results". Board of Election Commissioners for the city of Chicago. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010.
  2. http://chicago.legistar.com/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=60958&GUID=2A391BBA-404A-4FC8-9452-F657D55C7D9D. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "List of Endorsements in the Race for Chicago Mayor". NBC Chicago. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  4. Newman, Craig (September 2, 2012). "Who are the Illinois delegates to the Democratic National Convention?". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  5. Mihalopoulos, Dan (May 2, 2008). "What's your alderman's side job?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
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