Nearly two weeks after falling short in his run against two-time 43rd Ward incumbent Ald. Michele Smith, Derek Lindblom is still focused on just one thing.
"We've got a lot of challenges in our neighborhood and our city, and we'll need everyone working hard to meet them," Lindblom told Chicago City Wire. "I wish Ald. Smith the best with her work in City Council.”
Smith knocked off Lindblom on April 2 with nearly 54 percent of the vote in a race where the tone wasn’t always so conciliatory.
Derek Lindblom
At one point, Lindblom, who billed himself as a reformer “running to make a difference,” accused Smith of allowing the ward to “become very divisive.” He also chastised her for what he considered a stream of inconsistencies, including continuing to conduct consulting work after campaigning as a full-time alderman and voting in favor of the city’s largest property tax increase ever.
The 36-year old Lindblom, a graduate of Harvard Law School, previously served under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, working on his transition team and later as chief of staff of the mayor’s Economic Council. Lindblom’s duties included working on pension reform and attracting the federally backed Digital Manufacturing Center to the Goose Island neighborhood.
Lindblom presently serves as vice president of 7 Wire Ventures, a health-care startup for whom he oversees financial matters.
Smith campaigned on a message of “finishing the job,” and also touted herself as a reform candidate committed to achieving greater transparency from government.
“The voters understood my record of reform and working hard in the interest of our ward,” she told Block Club Chicago. “I’m really looking forward to working with Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot to make the changes that our city and our ward have been seeking.”
The 43rd Ward includes parts of Lincoln Park and Old Town.
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