Chicago City Council attendance, alderperson by alderperson, as the 2027 election nears
Most alderpersons were present for nearly every roll call this term. Five were present for fewer than 95%, and one for 85.8%. The member-by-member record.
Chicago's alderpersons show up for City Council votes. Across the 1,224 final roll calls on key legislation since May 15, 2023, at 60 meetings, the average member was present for 98.7% of the votes they were eligible to cast, according to the City Clerk's roll calls. Twenty-nine of the 50 have no recorded absence at all.
Five members were present for fewer than 95% of roll calls, and one of them, Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward), for 85.8%. With every Council seat on the ballot on Feb. 23, 2027, here is the attendance record, member by member.
How we measured attendance
For each roll call the Clerk records each member as voting yes, voting no, absent, or present but not voting. Attendance is the share of roll calls a member voted on out of those they voted on or were absent for, the same formula as on our ward pages. Present but not voting counts neither way. We also counted the meetings a member missed entirely: meetings where they were recorded absent on every roll call we have from that meeting.
A member who misses a meeting is recorded absent on every item voted on that day, often dozens. That is why a few missed meetings move a member's attendance by several points.
Who missed the most?
The five members below 95%:
- Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward): 85.8%, absent for 174 roll calls. She missed six meetings entirely, on June 12, Oct. 22 and Dec. 2, 2024, two meetings on Oct. 16, 2025 and one on Nov. 14, 2025. Since Jan. 1, 2025 her attendance is 90.0%.
- Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward): 91.2%, absent for 108. He missed seven meetings entirely, the most of any member: Sept. 27, 2023; Oct. 22, 2024; May 7, 2025; two meetings on Oct. 16, 2025; Nov. 14, 2025; and June 17, 2026. Since Jan. 1, 2025 his attendance is 86.1%, the lowest of any member over that period.
- Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward): 93.2%, absent for 80, all of them before 2025. She missed two meetings in 2024 and has been present for every roll call since Jan. 1, 2025.
- Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward): 93.3%, absent for 79. He missed five meetings entirely, three of them in September 2023, and was present but not voting 49 times. Since Jan. 1, 2025 his attendance is 92.5%.
- Ald. Maria Hadden (49th Ward): 94.7%, absent for 65, all since 2025. She missed meetings on May 21, Nov. 14 and Dec. 10, 2025. Since Jan. 1, 2025 her attendance is 90.4%.
Just above them are Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) at 95.2%, with no absences since 2025, and Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward) at 95.4%, who missed three meetings, the last on Dec. 20, 2025.
Lowest roll-call attendance on the City Council this term
Source: Our records · as of Oct 21, 2026
Share of final roll calls on key legislation each member voted on, out of those they voted on or were absent for, since May 15, 2023. Source: City Clerk roll calls.
Who was there every time?
The 29 members with no recorded absence on a final roll call this term: Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), Brian Hopkins (2nd), Lamont Robinson (4th), Desmon Yancy (5th), William Hall (6th), Michelle Harris (8th), Peter Chico (10th), Nicole Lee (11th), Marty Quinn (13th), Jeylú Gutiérrez (14th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Stephanie Coleman (16th), David Moore (17th), Matthew O'Shea (19th), Michael Rodriguez (22nd), Byron Sigcho-López (25th), Jessica Fuentes (26th), Jason Ervin (28th), Ruth Cruz (30th), Felix Cardona Jr. (31st), Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (33rd), Anthony Quezada (35th, since he joined the Council in 2025), Samantha Nugent (39th), Anthony Napolitano (41st), Brendan Reilly (42nd), Timothy Knudsen (43rd), James Gardiner (45th), Angela Clay (46th) and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th).
Roll-call attendance by ward, this term
Source: Our records · as of Oct 21, 2026
Source: City Clerk roll calls, as of the page view.
Present but not voting
Some members are often in the room but don't vote. Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward) was recorded as present but not voting 59 times, Curtis 49 times, and Rodríguez Sánchez and Mitts 47 times each. The Clerk's record doesn't give a reason.
What the numbers don't show
These are final roll calls on key legislation. They don't cover committee meetings, where much of the Council's work happens, or procedural votes. A member recorded absent may have arrived late or left early; we count a meeting as missed only when a member was absent for every roll call we have from it. The record doesn't say why a member was absent.
The figures come from the Clerk's roll calls in our data as of Oct. 17, 2026. The script, `tools/on-my-block/stories/s6_attendance.py`, recomputes every number; all 50 members' attendance matches our ward pages.
What it means on your block
When your alderperson misses a meeting, your ward has no vote on anything decided that day, including items for your own block. Your ward's page lists every roll call and how your alderperson was recorded: start from the wards list. Candidates for the Feb. 23, 2027 election will be on the ballot in every ward.