Six hundred and two people cast their vote for Ed Hershey in the election for alderman of the 25th ward in Chicago, 8.23% of those who voted.
A Chicago public school teacher, Ed is not a politician. And he was running for the first time. But the dozens of people who campaigned for Ed got his message out: Working people will not be able to deal with the widespread problems they face until they begin to marshal their forces to make a fight.
Enormous amounts of money does exist in the city of Chicago, money that could be used to provide a decent school for every working class child, adequate services and pleasant neighborhoods to live in. But that money has to be taken back from the banks, real estate developers, big corporations and speculators who stole it from the working people of Chicago.
Those 602 people who voted for Ed said, with their vote, that they agree. Their vote said they want to see a working class fight. And that's an important step for the future.
Add to Ed's vote, the 900 people who voted for Jorge Mújica, long-time immigrant rights and community activist who headed the Socialist Campaign, and it's obvious that working people in the ward found a way to express their anger outside the framework proposed by the Democratic party. Just over 20% voted for a program socialists proposed to the working class. The two candidates may have a different perspective of how the working class can protect itself and go forward, but this total vote in a city long controlled by the Democratic Party is not insignificant.