Chicago’s oldest alderman won’t seek re-election with federal corruption trial looming: reports

Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, Ed Burke, will reportedly not seek re-election after more than half a century of service as a federal corruption trial begins next year.

Burke, who first voted to represent the Southwest Side 14th Ward in 1969 after a special election to fill the vacancy created by his father’s death, did not file by the deadline of 5 p.m. on Monday for candidates seeking to run in the February municipal election, WBEZ. reported

He reportedly did not immediately comment on the move not to seek a record 15th term. A woman who answered the phone at Burke’s city office Tuesday morning told Fox News Digital they had no comment.

Burke, who has served the city of Chicago for 54 consecutive years, was indicted on more than a dozen counts of extortion, bribery and extortion in May 2019. He will turn 79 on December 29 of this year .

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According to the Chicago Sun Times, his brother, former Illinois Democratic state representative Dan Burke, urged his older brother to retire over the summer to focus on health, family and the next trial.

Ald. Ed Burke returns to his Southwest home on November 29, 2018, following federal raids on his Chicago offices earlier in the day.
(Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

At the time, he noted that the elder Burke’s district had been redrawn to exclude Garfield Ridge, a more conservative white neighborhood credited with much of his political strength.

Burke’s federal trial is scheduled to begin in less than a year on Nov. 6, 2023. The date was set for July.

The Justice Department has charged Burke with allegedly corruptly soliciting work for his private firm from companies involved in remodeling projects at the Old Main Post Office in downtown Chicago and a fast-food restaurant in Burke’s neighborhood to the southwest

14th Ward alderman candidate Jose Luis Torrez speaks to the press outside the Southside office of incumbent 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke as the FBI executed a search warrant Nov. 29 2018 in Chicago.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In exchange, Burke is said to be accused of getting an $18 million tax increment financing grant, a $100 million tax abatement and working to iron out problems with Amtrak and the Department of Management of the city’s Water.

The indictment also alleges he corruptly tried to help a business owner with a Northwest Side development shortly after the business owner told Burke he would hire the law firm of Burke. The firm, Klafter & Burke, has specialized in seeking property tax abatements for corporate clients.

People believed to be federal agents leave the office of 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke, where boxes of documents and computer equipment were taken November 29, 2018, in Chicago. The FBI has confirmed that a search warrant was executed at the alderman’s offices.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Burke was also indicted for allegedly threatening to oppose an admission fee increase at a Chicago museum because the museum did not respond to Burke’s inquiry about a museum internship for a child of ‘a friend of Burke’s.

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The Chicago Sun Times reported that the charges against Burke also involve an alleged shakedown of a Burger King franchise owner for a $10,000 campaign contribution to County Board Chairman Toni Preckwinkle’s campaign and three similar schemes revealed by former Zoning Committee Chairman Danny Solis, who for two years wore a wire to secretly capture conversations with Burke.