# Ald. Raymond Lopez closed the 15th Ward to Airbnb without a word, then went loud on the Mayor

*A profile of Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward): 20 precinct bans passed without debate, a lone no on $14 million in settlements, and a fight over who controls the City's debt.*

By Chicago Politics · Updated Oct 16, 2026

On Sept. 23, Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward) got 19 ordinances through the Chicago City Council without saying a word about them on the floor. Each one, starting with [O2026-0027210](/matter/O2026-0027210-1st-precinct-15th-ward-restricted-residential) for the ward's 1st Precinct, declares a precinct a Restricted Residential Zone, closed for four years to new short-term rentals of the kind booked on Airbnb. They passed in a package, 50 to 0, with no debate. On Oct. 14 the 20th and last precinct followed, [O2026-0028923](/matter/O2026-0028923-16th-precinct-15th-ward-restricted-residential), after Lopez told the License Committee on Oct. 7 it had been missed from the first group. The whole ward is now closed.

The only case he made for the bans came at the Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Sept. 9, and it took about 20 seconds.

> "These represent a series of ordinances prohibiting shared housing in the 15th Ward throughout the entire ward. And it is supported by all residents of my community."
> — Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward), Committee on License and Consumer Protection, Sept. 9, 2026

No one on the committee asked a question. That is one Lopez: the ward alderman who moves paper. The same afternoon, Sept. 23, the other Lopez showed up. He was one of five alderpersons who joined Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) in deferring Mayor Brandon Johnson's two appointments to the Chicago Housing Authority board, and he was the lone no vote on two Guevara settlements. On Oct. 14 the CHA appointments failed, 29 to 16, and Lopez and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward) deferred the Mayor's next CHA nominee, Mary Gardner, [SA2026-0029001](/matter/SA2026-0029001-appointment-mary-gardner-commissioner-chicago-housing), before anyone could speak to it. Eleven years in, Lopez works both registers at once: unanimous consent inside the ward, open opposition outside it. His page is at [/ward/15](/ward/15).

## He names the thing everyone else is circling

Lopez's floor style is to say what he thinks the room is avoiding. On Oct. 14, in the debate on overriding the Mayor's veto of an ordinance requiring 30 votes for new borrowing, he rose after Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) had argued the measure would strip power from a Council majority just as Black and Latino members gained it, [the Tribune reported](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/debate-over-racial-power-aldermen-191200043.html).

> "I gather we're not done gaslighting each other today."
> — Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward), City Council, Oct. 14, 2026

> "We keep dancing around it. So just come out and say it. Blame the evil white people who are not going to let African Americans and Latinos put sidewalks in their neighborhoods. Say it. You're going to dance around it. Come out and say it. Because that is the stupidest argument I think I've ever heard of anything in this room..."
> — Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward), City Council, Oct. 14, 2026

Video: [Ald. Raymond Lopez on the veto override](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/39FE6EE4-2FBC-F111-AAAE-001DD80B58E5?t=2:32:28-2:33:48)

The override got 33 votes and needed 34. Soon after, congratulating Juan Pablo Prieto on his confirmation as commissioner of Fleet and Facilities Management, Lopez said that "thanks to our new override, if he needs to borrow some money to fix the infrastructure, you only need 26 votes to do it."

The same bluntness ran the other way on Sept. 23, when he was the only no on two settlements of cases tied to former detective Reynaldo Guevara, which he said rested on certificates of innocence issued under former State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

> "Innocence, we learned, has nothing to do with a certificate of innocence. They could be guilty of a crime and yet we are still paying."
> — Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th Ward), City Council, Sept. 23, 2026

Video: [Ald. Raymond Lopez opposes two Guevara settlements](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/5F86622E-F485-F111-AB0E-001DD80ED7AA?t=4:08:26-4:10:20)

He does move when he gets what he asked for. Our notes from the Finance Committee on Oct. 5 say he told the chair he had voted against such settlements before but would support the $260.8 million Guevara package, calling it necessary and thanking the department for addressing his concerns. It passed Oct. 14.

## He votes against the Mayor two times out of three

Lopez's record on divided roll calls this term is split down the middle: 92 divided votes, 46 yes and 46 no. Narrow it to the 49 divided votes on measures the Mayor sponsored and the split moves: 17 yes, 32 no. He voted no on the 2024 budget (41 to 8), the 2025 revenue ordinance (27 to 23), the 2024 housing borrowing ordinance (32 to 17) and the resolution putting a real estate transfer tax increase on the ballot (32 to 17). He voted yes on the police contract in December 2023 (42 to 7), the firefighters' contract in October 2025 (45 to 2) and the Foundry Park TIF on Sept. 23 (49 to 1). On Sept. 29 he was one of 32 votes for the 30-vote borrowing rule, [O2026-0026270](/matter/O2026-0026270-adding-new-regarding-ordinance-requirements-issuance), that the Mayor then vetoed.

His own signature bill lost. The fur-sales ban he sponsored, [SO2023-0002983](/matter/SO2023-0002983-title-4-adding-new-entitled-trade), failed 19 to 26 on March 12, 2025. What passes under his name is local: liquor and package-goods license changes on Ashland, 47th and 59th, a peddling ban, and now 20 precinct bans.

Chart: What Ald. Lopez has filed this term, by category (sponsorships; groupBy=category&measure=count&filter=sponsor:is:Lopez, Raymond A.)

## The ward's loudest voice on Fox, and the neighbors who object

Block Club Chicago's Manny Ramos [reported on April 14, 2026](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/how-ald-raymond-lopez-became-conservative-medias-favorite-chicago-democrat/) that Lopez had made dozens of appearances on conservative programs and podcasts since the 2024 Democratic National Convention, more than a dozen of them during the federal immigration operation in Chicago in fall 2025, and that he defended that operation, including a raid at the Swap-O-Rama market. Block Club quoted two 15th Ward residents who objected, one saying the damage was already done and the other calling the appearances partisan propaganda. Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th Ward) told Block Club he had repeatedly reported unlicensed Swap-O-Rama vendors to police. Lopez's answer, [in the same article](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/how-ald-raymond-lopez-became-conservative-medias-favorite-chicago-democrat/): "If you want to say I've amplified the side of law enforcement, yes I do," and, of his critics, "I know where I came from."

That fight has a legislative history. In January 2025 Lopez and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) proposed letting police work with federal immigration agents in cases involving gang, drug, prostitution or child sex offenses; [WBEZ reported](https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2025/01/15/chicago-police-will-not-help-with-deportations-after-the-city-council-rejects-changes-to-sanctuary-status) that the Council voted 39 to 11 on Jan. 15 to keep it in committee, that the Police Department and the Illinois Attorney General's office opposed it, and that Lopez said he would keep pushing.

In May 2025, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd Ward) sent him a cease-and-desist letter over a post on his aldermanic X account that circled faces in a United Working Families photo under the words "birds of a feather" after the shooting of two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington, [CBS Chicago reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/rossana-rodriguez-sanchez-raymond-lopez-comments-dc-shooting-israeli-embassy-workers/). Her lawyer called it defamation; Lopez said "No one was identified in my post" and refused to take it down. CBS reported no resolution.

## Three campaigns, one ward

Lopez grew up on the Southwest Side, worked in Mayor Richard M. Daley's special events office and spent 12 years as a Southwest Airlines skycap, lost a 2011 runoff to Ald. Toni Foulkes, became 15th Ward Democratic committeeman in 2012 and won the seat in a 2015 runoff with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's backing, [according to Block Club](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/how-ald-raymond-lopez-became-conservative-medias-favorite-chicago-democrat/). He was the first to announce a run against Mayor Lori Lightfoot, then quit the race on Nov. 21, 2022, saying it was "for the good of the city" and that he had gathered 26,000 signatures, [CBS Chicago reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/alderman-raymond-lopez-drops-out-mayoral-race-third-term/). In March 2024 he challenged U.S. Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García as the moderate in the race and lost; [CBS reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/garcia-lopez-congressional-race-results/) García near 70 percent on election night.

The through-line is that his reach beyond the ward keeps falling short while his hold inside it tightens. On Sept. 9 he urged the City to let business permits proceed "unless an alderman gives a no within 10 business days", a limit on aldermanic sign-off. Minutes earlier he had used that sign-off to close 19 precincts. Both come from the same instinct: decide fast, and decide locally.

## What to watch

- **Mary Gardner's CHA appointment** comes back at the next Council meeting; Lopez and Napolitano deferred it on Oct. 14.
- **His tax-incentive clawback.** He presented a substitute of [SO2026-0027237](/matter/SO2026-0027237-including-additional-review-decision-making-criteria), which adds criteria for revoking property tax incentives, to the Economic Committee on Oct. 8 and rose for it on the floor Oct. 14, where the chair congratulated him; the Clerk's online record for the ordinance had not caught up by Oct. 16.
- **A Senior Citizen Property Tax Holiday,** [O2026-0027485](/matter/O2026-0027485-establishment-senior-citizen-property-tax-holiday), sits in the Finance Committee as budget season opens. He voted no on the 2024 budget and the 2025 revenue ordinance, and yes on the 2026 revenue ordinance.
- **2027.** Block Club's Sept. 16 [list of mayoral candidates](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/16/who-is-running-for-chicago-mayor/) does not include him, and the municipal election is Feb. 23, 2027. We found no reporting on his plans.


## Legislation in this story

- [Designation of 1st Precinct of 15th Ward as Restricted Residential Zone prohibiting additional shared housing units](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/matter/O2026-0027210-1st-precinct-15th-ward-restricted-residential) (O2026-0027210)

## Sources

1. City Clerk: [O2026-0027210: Designation of 1st Precinct of 15th Ward as Restricted Residential Zone prohibiting additional shared housing units](https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matterId=6ED1AA30-7480-F111-AB0E-001DD80216AA)
2. City Clerk: [O2026-0027210, Committee Letter: 15th Ward General Restricted Residential signed letter.pdf](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/matterattachmentspublic/95a3ab4b-0c1b-480b-be1f-71d2a2d74d41.pdf)
3. City Clerk: [O2026-0027210, Legislation: w15 - o27210.pdf](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/matterattachmentspublic/b31af794-1828-426d-8322-546256112847.pdf)
4. City of Chicago: [City Council, Sep 23, 2026: meeting video](https://vimeo.com/1229341127)
5. City Clerk: [City Council, Sep 23, 2026: Notice](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachmentspublic/0453fb95-f485-f111-ab0e-001dd8036800.pdf)
6. City Clerk: [City Council, Sep 23, 2026: Agenda](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachmentspublic/3c45558c-4276-444e-8e33-940aedd27693.pdf)
7. City of Chicago: [City Council, Oct 14, 2026: meeting video](https://vimeo.com/1235564993)
8. City Clerk: [City Council, Oct 14, 2026: Notice](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachmentspublic/5dc2983c-30bc-f111-aaae-001dd803894a.pdf)
9. City Clerk: [City Council, Oct 14, 2026: Agenda](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachmentspublic/7ad74e3d-811e-4504-93a7-a7d70d4cff3b.pdf)
10. yahoo.com: [the Tribune reported](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/debate-over-racial-power-aldermen-191200043.html)
11. Block Club Chicago: [reported on April 14, 2026](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/how-ald-raymond-lopez-became-conservative-medias-favorite-chicago-democrat/)
12. WBEZ: [WBEZ reported](https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2025/01/15/chicago-police-will-not-help-with-deportations-after-the-city-council-rejects-changes-to-sanctuary-status)
13. CBS News: [CBS Chicago reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/rossana-rodriguez-sanchez-raymond-lopez-comments-dc-shooting-israeli-embassy-workers/)
14. CBS News: [CBS Chicago reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/alderman-raymond-lopez-drops-out-mayoral-race-third-term/)
15. CBS News: [CBS reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/garcia-lopez-congressional-race-results/)
16. Block Club Chicago: [list of mayoral candidates](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/16/who-is-running-for-chicago-mayor/)
17. Chicago Politics: [O2026-0027210: votes, timeline and summary](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/matter/O2026-0027210-1st-precinct-15th-ward-restricted-residential)
18. Chicago Politics: [City Council, Sep 23, 2026: transcript](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/transcripts/1229341127.txt)
19. Chicago Politics: [City Council, Oct 14, 2026: transcript](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/transcripts/1235564993.txt)
20. City of Chicago: [Neighborhood and community area boundaries (Chicago Data Portal)](https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/y6yq-dbs2)

On the map: [New City](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/neighborhoods/new-city), [Gage Park](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/neighborhoods/gage-park), [Chicago Lawn](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/neighborhoods/chicago-lawn), [Englewood](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/neighborhoods/englewood), [Brighton Park](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/neighborhoods/brighton-park), [15th Ward](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/15)

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Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/profile-raymond-lopez-15th-ward · Chicago Politics, an independent tracker of the Chicago City Council. Guide for agents: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/llms.txt