With seven contested City Council races and a highly competitive battle for mayor, Evanston candidates urged their supporters to take to the polls on April 1. According to recently released official data from the Cook County Clerk’s office, they did — in droves.
This month’s municipal elections drew more voters than the last cycle in every race. Each ward saw between a one and 16 percentage point increase in voter turnout compared to 2021, with some wards’ turnout rates increasing by nearly 30 percentage points over the past three cycles.
The 6th Ward saw the largest turnout in April, with more than half of its registered voters casting a ballot. The ward historically has the highest turnout in recent years, but saw a 15 percentage point increase from 2021 to 2025.
Notably, the 6th Ward was one of the most competitive City Council races. Ethics complaints dominated the campaigns of incumbent Ald. Tom Suffredin and challenger Candance Chow.
As she left the polls, 6th Ward resident Toni Gilpin said she didn’t like either candidate and was voting “reluctantly.”
“I don’t like the way they’ve been personally attacking each other but haven’t really particularly outlined their stance on issues that I think are important to Evanston residents,” Gilpin said.
Increasing from a voter turnout rate of about 36% in 2021 to a rate of about 51% in 2025, the 6th Ward’s turnout rate nearly returned to its 2017 level. It is the only ward where the majority of registered voters cast their ballot in 2025.
The 5th Ward saw the lowest increase in voter turnout among the nine wards, keeping with recent trends. The percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in the ward increased from about 19% in 2021 to about 20% in 2025.
Both the 3rd and 7th wards also saw large increases in voter turnout in April’s municipal elections, up by about 16 and 13 percentage points, respectively. Neither of these races had an incumbent running for office, sparking campaigns from political newcomers.
Despite having only one City Council candidate on the ballot, both the 4th and 9th wards saw high increases in turnout. Up by about 11 and 15 percentage points from the last cycle, respectively, turnout in both wards returned to near-2017 levels.
Fourth Ward resident Ted Perez said the divisive mayor’s race drew him to cast a ballot in April.
“Having a strong mayor, particularly in this political climate, is important to me to make sure that the issues that hit home are being addressed,” he said.
The mayoral race between incumbent Daniel Biss and challenger Jeff Boarini also saw about a 16 percentage point increase in voter turnout compared to the 2021 election — when Biss ran against Lori Keenan.
DePaul University political science Prof. Erik Tillman said many of the increases are surprising, especially in the 6th Ward. Seeing a greater than 50% voter turnout rate is unusual in local elections, he said.
“There’s a perception that national elections are more important, but in some ways, local government is very consequential to people’s lives,” Tillman said.
First Ward resident Beverly Heimann agreed, saying local elections are often more important than presidential elections.
Heimann said she cast her ballot to have a direct impact on her community — and so that she has room to voice concerns in the future.
“Anyone who can vote should vote, and if you don’t like what’s going on in Washington, you’ve got to start locally,” Heimann said. “If you don’t do that, you can’t complain.”
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