How Chicago Teachers Union election impacts those well past city limits
The Chicago Teachers Union election has two groups competing to lead one of the most militant unions in the nation. CTU has a hand in federal, state and local politics.
While only Chicago Teachers Union members get to vote in electing leadership, the results will impact Illinois and beyond as the group pushes for $6 billion in new taxes statewide and exports its radical brand to other blue cities.
The May 16 election features the incumbent Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators and President Stacy Davis Gates. They face challenger Erica Meza and the “Respect, Educate, Advocate, Lead” or REAL caucus.
The race between REAL and CORE affects all taxpayers. CTU is currently part of a coalition pushing state lawmakers to pass $6 billion in new taxes and is spreading its gospel of strikes, politics and Socialist doctrine to New York and other blue cities.
Meza said it’s time for a change in leadership.
“Our leadership is too obsessed with politics,” Meza told Fox 32. “We’ve split our union members. Many voices get ignored. And we’ve hurt our relationships with other unions, community groups and parents.”
The union is involved in politics at all levels. U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-IL was CTU’s handpicked candidate for congress. Since taking office in 2023, Ramirez joined a group of progressives known as “The Squad,” including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-MN.
CTU also got its lobbyist elected mayor of Chicago and pushed its own candidates for 10 school board spots in November. It funded 30 of Chicago’s 50 aldermen. As of 2024 it had handed money to 3 of every 4 Democrats in the Statehouse, spreading money to 40 representatives from outside of Chicago.
Control of the union means control of how it distributes money to candidates and what the union asks for from local, state and federal elected leaders.
Picking which candidate to back or agenda to pursue is at stake when electing union leadership. Polling shows only 29% of Chicago voters have a favorable view of CTU while 60% are unfavorable. Davis Gates is even less popular: just 18% see her favorably while 55% are unfavorable.
Davis Gates and Vice President Jackson Potter still have big advantages as the current leaders. They control how the union talks to its 28,000 members.
But having real competition is a big deal for a union that’s been so powerful in Chicago education politics. REAL’s challenge shows division inside a union that’s shaped Chicago schools and politics beyond the city limits for years – even as fewer Chicagoans support them.