Reaction to Chicago School Board presidential race results

A historic night for Chicago public schools as voters decided who will lead the district's first fully elected board. Gabriela Primas is here with a breakdown of a race that has been followed very closely. Hi, Gabby. Hi, guys. You know, people might be thinking. Why is it so significant? Well, remember for nearly 30 years, the mayor held full control over who ran our district. But starting in January, voters take the driver's seat. And for the first time ever, Chicagoans got to vote directly for their CPS board president. And after a serious campaign, Jessica Biggs came out on top, millions of dollars poured into the race. And we'll get into that in a second. Biggs is a former CPS principal and current board member. She received, brought support from labor unions, community groups, and civic leaders. Here's what she had to say after claiming victory last night. Families are tired of chaos and uncertainty. They want stability. And they want this board to turn its focus back to our students. While Biggs led the three-way contest, candidate Hilario Dominguez drew strong support across the city, including a big endorsement from the Chicago Teachers Union. A main topic throughout the campaign was the record amount of money flowing from the contest from outside donors. Biggs raised nearly $1.9 million, Dominguez $1.7 million. On top of that, Super PAC spent nearly $3.5 million specifically to oppose Dominguez. He spoke at CTU headquarters last night. Tonight, he did not concede, taking aim at the record political spending. But we also have to be honest about what happened in this election. We watched billionaires pour enormous amounts of money into a school board race. Mike Sachs put a million dollars into this school board race practically every single week for the last two months. Outside groups spent millions more trying to defeat ours. Biggs and the newly elected board will officially take office on January 15th. They will immediately face major responsibilities, including overseeing a $10 billion budget and addressing an approaching district budget deficit. Natalie, Liz. Thank you so much, Gabby.