- Cuahutemoc Morfin
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Cuahutémoc "Temoc" Morfin, is a community activist Chicago's Pilsen community and candidate for Alderman of Chicago's 25th Ward.
Cuahutémoc "Temoc" Morfin
Contents
Personal life
A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Cuahutémoc Morfín immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 8 years old. Settling in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, he attended Benito Juarez Community Academy and graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1996 with a degree in Political Science and minor in Spanish Literature.
Morfín began working for the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1999, first as a Legal Judicial Spanish Interpreter and later as a Sworn Juvenile Probation Officer in the Juvenile Justice Division. During this time, he opened the first fitness center and nutrition bar in the Pilsen community. A father of one, he is currently the Vice President of Morfín Construction and Vice President of the United Merchants of Pilsen Chamber of Commerce.
Community Activism
In 2004, Morfín was elected as the Community Representative and Vice President of the Local School Council for his former high school, Benito Juarez Community Academy. [1] During his two terms on Juarez’s LSC, he led a $36 million renovation and expansion of the school’s overcrowded facilities that was completed in 2010. [2]
Morfín was active in the Community in Action organization, once organizing a massive food and clothing drive for victims of the 2007 Tabasco flood and driving the goods to the affected areas. He has also been an active member of the March 10 Committee, a group that mobilized hundreds of thousands in marches over fair immigration reform.
In 2010, Morfín was one of the community members active in the protests against the Chicago Public School’s efforts to level the field house at Whittier School and replace it with a soccer field for the neighborhood charter school. Due to media attention garnered by the mother’s sit-in, the “castleta,” as it is referred to in the community, will instead be renovated and turned into a school library.
Political Activity
Institute for Mexicans Abroad
In 2006, Morfin was elected to serve a three-year term as the Representative from Illinois in the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior, IME), where he served as an American advisor to then President-elect Felipe Calderón, working on bilateral issues related to improving civil society influence in education, health and community leadership.
2007 Municipal Elections
In 2007, Cuahutémoc Morfín ran for Alderman of Chicago’s 25th Ward, one of six candidates running to unseat the incumbent, Alderman Daniel Solis. During his 2007 campaign, he was endorsed by AFSCME Council 31, the Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, (P.E.R.R.O), and the Pilsen/Southwest Side Green Party, a local of the Illinois Green Party. [3] A few days before the election, he was endorsed by Ambrosio Medrano, the former Alderman of the 25th Ward who was disqualified by the Illinois Supreme Court for running for the seat due to his felony extortion conviction in 1996 under the Operation Silver Shovel scandal.[4]
Morfin came in second to Solis, receiving 22.4% of the vote with 1535 votes – only 95 votes shy of forcing a runoff election against Solis. [5]
25th Ward Alderman for the City of Chicago Year Winner Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct 2007 Daniel Solis 3522 51.4% Cuahutemoc Morfin 1535 22.4% Juan M Soliz 627 9.2% Martha Padilla 550 8.0% Aaron del Valle 329 4.8% Joe D Acevedo 219 4.3% Ambrosio Medrano Disqualified Votes Not Counted 2011 Municipal Elections
On November 15, 2010, Morfin filed to run for Alderman of the 25th Ward again, setting up a race between himself, Solis, and Ambrosio "Ambi" Medrano, Jr., son of the former Alderman. [6] Morfin and Medrano chipped away at the incumbent's hold on the electorate, taking 28% and 23% of the vote, respectively, on the February 22, 2011. Solis received 49% of the vote and was forced into a runoff election on April 5, 2011.[7] [8]
25th Ward Alderman for the City of Chicago Year Incumbent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct Opponent Votes Pct 2011 Daniel Solis 4315 48.91% Cuahutemoc Morfin 2467 27.96% Ambrosio "Ambi"Medrano, Jr 2041 23.13% Controversy has erupted in the run-up to the run-off, mostly due to Solis's sudden decision after the February election to sign on to the Clean Power Ordinance, a measure that Morfin has always supported but which Solis had previously refused to support. Morfin has called out Solis's about-face on the issue as unconvincing, especially in light of Solis pocketing more than $50,000 from the power plant that the measure was designed to clean up. [9] [10] As head of the Zoning Committee, Solis is one of the most powerful alderman in the city and is widely perceived as a rubber stamp for Mayor Richard M. Daley, voting for the measure to privatize Chicago's parking meters. [11] According to one study, Solis had voted with Daley 98% of the time. [12]
Medrano, a former rival in the general election, has thrown his support and network of volunteers behind Morfin for the runoff.[13]
Morfin has racked up important endorsements from the Chicago Teachers Union, Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308, Citizen Action Illinois, and Democracy for America, as well as the support of Progressive Democrats of America (Chicago Chapter) and the United Steelworkers, District 7. Morfin has also received the stamp of approval from Quentin Young, Illinois' Public Health Advocate, who called him "a committed progressive." [14]
Most crucially, former mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle endorsed Morfin. "For those of us concerned with issues of reform, of the environment, of strong neighborhood schools, Morfin is the candidate most deserving of our endorsement. My campaign for mayor was been based on a vision for neighborhood-focused government in the city Chicago. Morfin is a clear ally in that mission." According to the Huffington Post, Morfin "does indeed have the progressive bona fides to fit the del Valle mold." [15]
Morfin credits his success to forcing a run-off election to his grassroots, close-to-the-ground campaign style. He says, "We’re knocking on doors, running a simple but strategic campaign. Money doesn’t buy everything. The endorsement that truly matters to me is the endorsement of the voters." [16]
References
- ^ "Three schools elect new local councils", Chi-Town Daily News.
- ^ "CPS: Officials Celebrate New Addition to Benito Juarez Community Academy", Hispanically Speaking News.
- ^ "IVI-IPO Endorsements For February 27, 2007"
- ^ "Docket No. 104112, Delgado v. The Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago"
- ^ "Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago", On-Line Election Results
- ^ "Here Come The Petitions, And Petitioners", Progress Illinois.
- ^ "Change Comes to the City Council", Chicago News Co-op
- ^ "Official election results of Feb 22, 2011, 25th Ward Election Chicago Elections results
- ^ "25th Ward Aldermanic Runoff: Under Pressure From Morfin, Danny Solis Changes Course On Coal Plant" Huffington Post
- ^ "25th Ward: Ald. Solis flips on coal-fire plant ordinance" Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ "Interview: Ald. Daniel Solis Gozamos
- ^ "April Vote Should Boost Ranks of Independent Aldermen" Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ "Meet Temoc: Endorsements Morfin Website: Endorsements
- ^ "Meet Temoc: Endorsements Morfin Website: Endorsements
- ^ "Miguel Del Valle Endorses Morfin Over Solis In 25th Ward, Wading Back Into Electoral Politics" Huffington Post
- ^ [http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/March-2011/Cuahutemoc-Temoc-Morfin-Runs-Against-Danny-Solis-in-the-25th-Ward "An Uphill Runoff for Cuahutémoc 'Témoc' Morfin in the 25th Ward"] Chicago magazine
Categories:- Living people
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