Neal Runs For Mayor

In the last of our election post-mortem bonuses, we hear from a data scientist, a filmmaker, and Neal's mom about the work they did on the campaign and what surprised them about the experience.

Kina Collins is a Chicago activist who's focused much of her work on gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform. In this bonus episode, she reflects on young voters' disenchantment with the citywide election, the tumultuous events that led up to it, and the work that continues.

Wailin sits down with former mayoral candidate and friend of Neal, Paul Vallas, to discuss his public support of Lori Lightfoot for the April 2 run-off and pull back the curtain on the endorsement process.

As Chicago awaits the mayoral run-off on April 2, Neal isn't wasting any time in getting to work. He drops by to share his plans for what he's working on next. Plus he invites two friends—fellow candidate Paul Vallas and activist Kina Collins—to the studio to reflect on Neal's campaign and his next chapter. Show Notes "Paul Vallas Really Loves His Broom,""Young Chicago Activists Have A Plan: Take Over City Hall,faculty pageCodeNowMike McGee"Two Graphs Show Why the Chicago Area Is Losing Population"Chicago Tribune articleThe Daily LineOur episode

On February 26, Neal hosted friends and family for a party to say thank you and to watch the election returns. There was charcuterie, laughter, a few tears, and a lot of love. Not too shabby for a candidate who was never expected to get on the ballot. The first election may be over (Chicago is headed to a run-off in April), but the work is just beginning. Show Notes New York Times storyunofficial summary reportJohn KozlarVoter turnoutclose to a record lowhanded out checks

We've arrived at the final week for Neal, the longshot candidate who was the 14th and final mayoral hopeful to make it onto the ballot for this pivotal Chicago election. Neal and campaign manager Claire Feinberg talk about the projects they're pushing forward on that aren't just integral to the campaign, but are also laying a foundation for the work he wants to carry on past the February 26 election. Show Notes Chicago Tonight forumFox 32 debateQuestions appitemized receiptvideoPaul Vallas' answerLori Lightfoot's answerresponse on Twitterinteractive mayoral questionnairequiz on mayoral candidate alignmentour previous episode2013 announcement

Neal is getting ready to unveil another big project—a visual explainer for how the Chicago budget works and where that $22 billion ends up. He's also starting to make the rounds at mayoral candidate forums and media interviews, making public his idea to give Chicagoans a receipt for their taxes. Show Notes tweeted updatesappearance"Chicago's city budget 101" blog postinvestigative reporting projecttax receipt generator

Campaign tech wizard and behind-the-scenes fixer Raghu Betina sits down to talk about an app he's building that started as an internal tool for the campaign but is being turned into a publicly available voters guide. It's one of several projects that the campaign is working to unveil in the final weeks before the election. Neal is battling a cold but stops by to give a preview of what else is to come. Show Notes mayoral endorsement interviews"The Sky Would Have To Open Up"The story of Code AcademyNeal's website in SpanishOur post-mortemOurPlatform.com

The Chicago mayoral ballot has been set at 14 candidates, with Neal as the last name added. He now has just four weeks to get out the vote. Hear from Claire Feinberg, who's stepped up as campaign manager, about how the team is embracing constraints and working on its own timeline, rather than racing to play catch-up. Neal pops in at the end for a nerdy cameo! Show Notes The New York Times storyprevious episodethis episodeWBEZ questionnaireplatform pageOur episode"receipt for your taxes"Watchmen

We're here at the end of all things: Neal's final hearing at the Board of Elections. And in a twist that no one on his team saw coming, he lands a spot on the ballot for Chicago mayor. Hear how it all went down that morning. Show Notes Our previous episodeChicago Tribune's write-upChicago Board of Elections commissioners

Go inside the Board of Elections hearing room on Thursday, January 17 as Neal makes his case (again) to get on the ballot. Come for the emotional roller coaster, stay for the Dragon Ball Z references! Show Notes previous episodeChicago Tribune articlethe episodeEd MullenDragon Ball Z

Today—Thursday, January 17—is the day of Neal's final hearing at the board of elections to determine whether he'll get on the ballot. When we last left off, he was about 2,400 signatures short and waiting to hear an official ruling from a handwriting expert on how many disputed signatures would be converted to his favor. Listen to this episode to find out that result and hear about the unprecedented digital effort Neal undertook in his last-ditch effort to overcome Willie Wilson's petition challenge.

Neal and his team spent long days at the board of elections, defending their 18,000 signatures from a ballot challenge mounted by candidate Willie Wilson. Now the future of Neal's candidacy depends on a ruling from a handwriting expert and whether Neal can track down—in person—a few hundred to a couple thousand Chicagoans who signed his petitions. And if that's not enough stress, Neal and Wailin get into a friendly argument about transparency and why he didn't release his tax returns to the Chicago Tribune. Show Notes "Neal Files For Mayor,""A Cesspool for Human Error,"12/13/18 articleQuestionnaires app

Neal filed over 18,000 signatures to get on the ballot, but they were challenged by mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. Now Neal and a team of volunteers have to defend each challenged signature before the board of elections, a time-consuming and difficult process. Hear from Neal and two of his volunteers, including a Chicago high school student, on what it's like to analyze handwriting and stay on the good side of records examiners. Show Notes previous episodehad called for themWikipedia pageFacebook Live video

Neal has filed his signatures to be an official candidate for Chicago mayor in 2019. Now it's time to tackle petition challenges from other candidates trying to keep him off the ballot. Show Notes our episodethis designSam Letschertalked aboutnews storySteve Jamesdropped out of the mayoral raceWikipedia pageheld a press conference

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we have a short conversation between Neal and Wailin that didn't fit into our previous episodes. They discuss how progressive candidate Amara Enyia scored high-profile endorsements from Chance the Rapper and Kanye West, whose teams had also contacted Neal. Show Notes "Chance the Rapper brings his star power to a long-shot campaign, backing Amara Enyia for Chicago mayor""Kanye cash follows Chance praise, boosting Amara Enyia mayoral bid""No plans to have Kanye West teach, says School of the Art Institute of Chicago"Facebook page

Neal takes a short pause from signature collection to discuss what he noticed around voter turnout and engagement on midterm election day. He also shares a significant change in strategy around incentivizing volunteers as the process to get on the mayoral ballot reaches its critical final weeks. Show Notes "Signature Moves""You're Disillusioned. That's Fine. Vote Anyway."unofficial turnout in Chicago"Donate" pageFundraiser scenebroke the quarterly fundraising record

Every candidate for Chicago mayor needs 12,500 valid signatures to get onto the ballot. That’s already a huge undertaking before you even get to the potential legal challenges, ballot order lottery, and other shenanigans that are part of this process. In this episode, we dive into the messy details of what it takes to even get on the ballot in Chicago and how Neal is taking on the challenge. Show Notes Sam LetscherBossy ChicagoFebruary 2015 mayoral electionMAYOR merchandiseJB PritzkerBallotReady

This is the story of how Neal decided to run for mayor of Chicago, with cameos from a famous computer scientist, Neal’s parents, and others who encouraged him to seek the city’s highest public office. Show Notes CrossRoads conferenceAlan Kay's biographyBasecampJason Friedinvested in Starter Leaguesold Starter League to Fullstack AcademyMichael Slaby's websiteJB Pritzker's websiteNick KokonasMorgan MaloneEnglewood Quality of Life Plansaid he decided to run for mayorThis American Life episode

Neal sits down with Shaun to share his reaction to the October 5 guilty verdict in the Jason Van Dyke case. The Chicago police officer was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. It marked the first time in almost five decades that a city police officer was convicted of murder in an on-duty shooting. Neal talks about the impact that the McDonald case had on its decision to run for office and looks ahead to the work that still needs to be done in public safety and police accountability. Show Notes The Chicago Tribune’s timelineChicago Sun-Times storyrevealed that the shooting happened much differentlyChicago paid $5 millionfacing a separate trialGarry McCarthyNeal’s platform on public safetyintense scrutinyleft the city