We don't hear much about the 20th Ward's DSA alderman, but she is actually more inflammatory than her party colleagues
Of the 50 aldermen seated in the Chicago City Council, six are acknowledged Democratic Socialists. One DSA, the foul-mouthed Jeanette Taylor of the 20th Ward, often flies under the radar.
Situated on the South Side, the 20th Ward comprises the Back of the Yards, Woodlawn, and Washington Park neighborhoods. The ward has a checkered history. Scholars of the City Council know that since 1973, an astonishing 38 members of the City Council have been sentenced to federal prison. Two wards, the 31st on the Northwest Side, and the 20th, have seen three of its aldermen establish residency in the "House of Many Doors." Willie Cochran, Taylor's predecessor in the Council, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2019.
Because of her bigmouth, Taylor often finds herself with different troubles.
Only recently, in response to the $222.9 million deficit for the current fiscal year and a whopping estimated $982.4 million deficit for fiscal year 2025, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an all-departments hiring freeze and limits on non-essential travel by municipal officials.
Besides incompetence and malfeasance, the reasons for these financial shortfalls are manifold. One other driver of the massive deficit is the decline in tax revenue, in part spurred by the strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
While one member of the City Council would not have been able to overturn then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot's COVID restrictions, it is important to remember that Taylor was a strong and vocal supporter of the lockdowns.
After Taylor expressed her own frustration with the pandemic closures in early 2021 while a guest on a Ben Joravsky Show podcast, she admitted that she was a lockdown supporter. Switching into a businessperson character as she spoke to the host: "I didn't make any money this year, my profit margin didn't go up.” Shifting back into DSA alderman character, Taylor then barked: "F*ck you and that profit margin, honestly."
Chicago needs more businesses with flush profit margins, but socialists always overlook that key component of economics. Democratic Socialists ignore most economic truths.
While Taylor often goes unnoticed, she does not always escape scrutiny. Last December, again on a Ben Joravsky Show podcast, Taylor explained that her fellow leftists — the mayor and his inner circle — were not qualified, at the very least for now, to run America's third-largest city.
Confiding to Javorsky, Taylor asserted:
"A, we should not be on the fifth floor. And I'm speaking my whole heart, we were not ready because we haven't been in government long enough to know how government really works."
"I felt like we not ready and it's showing out in the wash. I don't got to say it, people see it. We're pretending like now we got the power, let us show you how it's supposed to be done. And we look real stupid, right now."
Indeed, the leftists do.
Also, this week, another DSA alderman — although not formally a member of the City Council DSA Caucus— Andre Vasquez of the 40th Ward, blasted out a desperate plea for help on X. Fear is in the air.
“We need a real and frank discussion amongst and regarding the progressive movement here in Chicago. If anyone is interested in partnering to organize something, DM (direct message) me.”
Byron Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th Ward — who is a member of the DSA Caucus — regularly belts out inflammatory statements. So does Taylor.
Taylor Returned to yet another Joravsky podcast along with did four other members of the DSA caucus in the summer of 2021. If you want to explore the heart-and-lack-of-soul of the City Council Democratic Socialist Caucus, Joravsky's "Aldermania" podcast is essential listening for you.
As that podcast winded down, Joravsky randomly asked Taylor, who is also a member of the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, about the only African American Republican U.S. senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina.
"All skin folks ain't kin folks," she growled back. "He is a racist and a capitalist." Taylor then compared the senator to the evil Samuel L. Jackson character in Django Unchained, a slave who oppresses other slaves.
Not stopping there, Taylor moved on to compare Scott to two black conservatives.
"He ain't no different than Stacey Dash — and what's that other girl [sic] name? — Candace Owens, they are all in the same 'coon club' together — I said it."
Later, Taylor doubled down on Scott.
"And so, the thought that he would get on TV — and let the coonerery — coonenomics out of his mouth is disrespectful to all of us."
Senator Scott is the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Should the GOP retake control of the upper chamber in Congress after the November election, Scott may be the chairman of that committee in 2025. The senator's help is something Chicago may need as it confronts its fiscal calamity.
Taylor is the chair of the City Council's Education Committee. The good news? The alderwoman of the 20th Ward is not teaching in a classroom.
The predominant political story now is of course the 2024 presidential election, the Democrats' candidate is Vice-President Kamala Harris. Harris ended her 2020 campaign before the first primary vote was cast; Harris did not survive long enough to have California primary voters render a verdict on her.
Harris has not always been the darling of the far left. Her aggressive prosecution of crimes involving marijuana while she was San Francisco's district attorney earned her some enemies among progressives. Perhaps Taylor was — or is — one of those left-wing opponents to Harris.
Once more we look back at a Joravsky podcast, this time, from the fall of 2019, when Harris was still a 2020 candidate.
After proclaiming her support for fellow socialist Bernie Sanders — "I'm a Sanders sister, I'm a sister for Sanders" — Joravsky asked the alderwoman about other contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, including Harris.
"If they go with Kamala or Cory (Booker, the New Jersey senator)," Taylor said: "I'm moving to Africa."
Five years later, it is likely that Taylor has, publicly at least, warmed up to the vice president. In fairness, people often change their minds — their opinions evolve. After all, Ben Shapiro was a "Never Trumper" in 2016. Earlier this year, the conservative talk radio personality hosted a Donald Trump fundraising event.
Still, if you find yourself within earshot of Taylor, ask her about how she feels about Harris now.
But prepare yourself for an F-bomb if Taylor answers back.
