Byron Sigcho-Lopez announced he is running for reelection as alderman of Chicago's 25th Ward instead of pursuing a congressional bid.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) kicked off his campaign for a third term as Pilsen's alderman Tuesday evening, ending his congressional run that fell apart last month when election officials removed him from the ballot.

Sigcho-Lopez held his launch event at Indigo Mrkto, 2100 S. Morgan Ave., where local organizers and community leaders spoke in support of his candidacy in front of a crowd of supporters. He did not mention, during his remarks, the federal lawsuit he has filed against the Illinois State Board of Elections over his removal from the race for U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia's open congressional seat.

Election officials knocked Sigcho-Lopez off that ballot after he failed to collect the 11,000 signatures required of independent candidates. His lawsuit argues the state's petition threshold for independents is unconstitutional, especially when compared with the lower bar set for candidates running under a major political party. He is asking a judge to strike down the requirement, but told Block Club Chicago on Wednesday that regardless of the case's outcome, he will not pursue a spot on November's congressional ballot. His full attention, he said, is now on the aldermanic race, a reversal from earlier statements suggesting he'd run for Congress again if the lawsuit succeeded.

"Powerful interests will never stop me from standing with our community," Sigcho-Lopez said in a statement. "The billionaires, developers and political establishment have plenty of people fighting for them. I'm running for our neighbors and our community. We've already successfully prioritized affordable housing, our neighbors' safety, health and education, and we did it by organizing with the people of the 25th Ward, not by taking orders from political insiders."

At the event, Sigcho-Lopez, a self-described Democratic Socialist, criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza, the billionaire class, Gov. JB Pritzker and federal immigration enforcement in Chicago. He told supporters he intends to keep pushing progressive policy through the ward and City Council.

"I'm ready to fight for my community," Sigcho-Lopez said. "I'm ready to fight for every single school and every single child here in our country and abroad because we believe in the power of working people here at home, in Mexico and in Gaza. Solidarity everywhere, solidarity forever!"

Sigcho-Lopez said he plans to keep pressing for a statewide 3 percent tax on millionaires, an effort that stalled earlier this year when it failed to gain enough support among House Democrats. He also pledged to expand access to public transit in Pilsen, build more affordable housing and address neighbors' complaints about noise from overhead helicopter traffic.

His entry into the aldermanic race puts him in a field that already includes five declared candidates: Aida Flores, Nubia Batista Willman, Ian Watkins, Miguel Chacon and Leonardo Quintero. Flores, a Pilsen educator and mother making her third run for the seat, announced her candidacy in February, shortly after Sigcho-Lopez launched his congressional campaign. Her campaign describes a goal of building an inclusive, multigenerational ward. Batista Willman, who previously ran the city's Office of New Americans, entered the race last month.

Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago, said Sigcho-Lopez has become a polarizing figure in the ward, drawing intense support from some residents and firm opposition from others. Simpson said that dynamic could work in favor of the other candidates. Simpson endorsed Sigcho-Lopez during his first run for office in 2019.

Sigcho-Lopez first challenged then-Ald. Danny Solis, later disgraced in a federal corruption investigation, in 2015 and lost. He ran again in 2019 and won a runoff against Alex Acevedo, becoming the ward's first new alderman in more than two decades. In 2023, he faced Flores directly and won reelection with about 52 percent of the vote to her roughly 47 percent.

The 2026 municipal election will decide whether Sigcho-Lopez gets a third term or whether one of his five challengers takes the seat. His lawsuit against the state elections board remains pending in federal court. He has said the case will not change his focus on the ward race going forward.