District 10b neighborhoods: South Deering, Hegewisch, Riverdale, East Side, Chatham, South Chicago, Pullman, Calumet Heights, Avalon Park, Burnside, South Shore
A mom who ran for school board to fight for more funding for special needs students like her daughter has won her bid to represent District 10b on the city’s Southeast Side.
Connie Anderson, the incumbent backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, triumphed over Patrick Watson, the lead legislative aide for 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale, one of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s fiercest critics.
Anderson had nearly 63% of the vote with 94% of precincts reporting as of Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Watson received more than $300,000 in support from pro-charter school groups, as well as the Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU political group that’s largely funded by billionaire Michael Sacks. Meanwhile, Anderson had only $60,000 in her campaign coffers.
Anderson said she questioned whether she could pull off a win when she realized how much she was being outspent.
“Then, lo and behold, you're looking at the polls, and you're like, ‘Wait, what?’ ” she said. “People believe in my platform, they believe in me, and it's just so surreal.”
Anderson said she’s happy that she’ll remain on the board with a group of other CTU-supported candidates and she’s ready to get to work.
“It means we're going to have some real discussions on how we're going to manage this budget and how we're going to get out of the red,” she said. “It means that we're not going to continue to line the pockets of people that are not benefiting our kids.”
Also defeated was write-in candidate Rosita Chatonda, a former teacher who spent years challenging her CPS firing that landed her on the district’s “do not hire” list. Chatonda had no donations on file.
Anderson, a paralegal and mom of twins who attend CPS, got a leg up when Johnson appointed her to fill the vacant seat in July after she filed her paperwork to run in June.
With 58 schools and 21,844 students enrolled, this school board electoral district has the second-most public schools and students. Two-thirds of its students are Black and 31% are Latino.
Only 7% of the schools in the area are considered exemplary — the state’s highest rating — and 29% received the lowest designation, which is comprehensive, according to 2026 data.
Watson had charged that Anderson’s recent appointment was “indicative of the games being played.” She got the endorsement of the CTU, which is closely aligned with the mayor.
“I just don't think politics belongs in education,” Watson said. “I think education belongs in education.”
The three candidates disagreed on the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, the massive research and technology facility being built in their district. Anderson doubted it would have a positive impact on schools, citing pushback over a contractual agreement.
But Chatonda saw possibilities and Watson said it was “an excellent opportunity for CPS.”
