By Mark Weyermuller -
Scott Davis is a Republican running for one of the 50 aldermanic spots in the heavily democratic Chicago. He is running in the 44th Ward in the Lakeview neighborhood, which includes Roscoe Village, Wrigley Field, and the north edge of Lincoln Park.
Davis is a project manager at a software company downtown by day. The rest of his time is committed to politics, activism and work in the community. He is the 44th Ward Republican Committeeman and very active throughout the city. The red light and speed camera programs have also been a big issue, as he wants to eliminate them.
Scott is running on a platform of saving Wrigley Field, improving public safety, increasing economic prosperity and expanding school choice, his website says. The central issue of Davis' campaign is reforming Chicago’s public sector pension systems without raising property taxes.
Thursday night, I attended his campaign event at Sidetracks, a nightclub in the North Halsted entertainment district in the ward. It was a karaoke theme with one supporter starting the fun with singing "Taking Care of Business." Scott asked several to join him in singing Frank Sinatra's "My Kind of Town." After that Scott did a solo of his new favorite song called "Red Light."
The city election is supposedly non-partisan but there are clearly conservatives and liberals in the race. Scott is clearly fiscally responsible while wanting to attend to needs of the people in the neighborhood. He wants to focus more on schools and the growing crime problem within the 44th Ward, an issue for which the current alderman has been highly criticized.
There are two other candidates on the ballot in the 44th Ward. They include current Alderman Tom Tunney who owns Ann Sather Restaurants. The other candidate is business owner Mark Thomas who owns the Alley and Taboo Taboo. The Ward has a growing base of Republican voters as seen in the November with the election of Republican Bruce Rauner.
The election is Tuesday, February 24, 2015. Each voter will pick one alderman of the fifty aldermanic seats along with the mayors race on Tuesday. The winners needs fifty percent plus one vote to avoid a run off in April. We wish Scott Davis good luck on Tuesday.
