Rhymefest Wins Reelection To Chicago School Board
Originally published by AllHipHop Read the original
Rhymefest kept his seat on Chicago’s school board in the November 3 election, WBEZ reported. He won another term in District 10A as the city chose a fully elected board.
The rapper, whose legal name is Che Smith, ran against Tameka Walton, a nonprofit director and Chicago Public Schools parent. A petition challenge took her off the printed ballot, leaving her to seek write-in votes in the reelection race.
He first won the seat as an independent in 2024. Before this year’s vote, he credited his local ties.
“I will tell you that my connections in the community got me here, my work got me here,” he said. “Money didn’t get me here.”
The city chose a 21-member board that will end three decades of mayoral control when it takes office in January 2027, Chalkbeat reported. The shift began in 2024, when voters chose 10 members and the mayor picked 11. The new board’s president will have a full vote, rather than just break ties.
The two District 10A candidates split on school buildings at an October 26 forum in Woodlawn. A freeze on school closures is due to end in 2027. Walton said she would extend it. Rhymefest wanted talks to keep school sites open.
“I am not open to extending any moratorium on conversations about facilities,” he said at the forum.
He said the school’s chief would help shape those choices, along with parents, the community and data. Both candidates backed the Black Student Success Plan. They also backed a tax on millionaires to help pay for schools.
Arts and student input were key parts of Rhymefest’s bid. “I’m running to finish the work: arts and music in every school, real student voice, and a budget families can trust,” he said on his campaign website before the vote.
The campaign also cited his July 30 vote against a budget that counted on state aid not yet approved.
In Hip-Hop, he co-wrote Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” and the “Selma” song “Glory.” His school board biography also lists him as a co-founder of the community arts nonprofit Art Of Culture.
