Matt Martin

Martin was one of 11 aldermen who voted against Mayor Lori Lightfoot's proposed 2020 budget, alongside either other members of the Progressive Caucus. In a statement, Martin said "While I commend the Mayor and her budget team for filling this year’s budget gap without layoffs or a significant property tax increase, ultimately, I saw a number of critical missed opportunities to seek more progressive sources of revenue, fund our social services in a more robust manner, and pursue structural changes that will set us on the path to solvency." Martin Held multiple public events and town hall meetings about the budget before and after the vote.

He finished first with 39.4% in a nine-candidate field in the election held on February 26, 2019 and then faced Michael Negron, who finished in second place with 21.4%, in a runoff election held on April 2, 2019. Following the first round election, he received a number of additional endorsements from elected officials and organizations including 49th ward alderwoman-elect Maria Hadden, 35th ward alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), the Chicago Teachers Union, and SEIU Healthcare Illinois. On April 2, 2019, he won the runoff election with 62.6% of the vote.

On April 10, 2019, Martin joined six other newly-elected members of the City Council in protesting against the approval of tax increment financing for the Lincoln Yards and The 78 real estate developments.

At the start of the 2019–23 term, Martin joined City Council's Progressive Caucus and Black Caucus.

Matt Martin (born March 4, 1984) is a Chicago politician and the alderman of the city's 47th ward. He won election to that office in the 2019 Chicago aldermanic elections and took office as a member of the Chicago City Council in May 2019. The 47th ward includes all or parts of North Center, Lincoln Square, Lakeview, and Uptown.