Sophia King

In the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, King endorsed Toni Preckwinkle, declaring her support for her in advance of the first round of the election upon Preckwinkle's entrance into the mayoral race.

Sophia King (born 1966) is the alderman for Chicago’s 4th Ward, which includes Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland and South Loop at its northern edge. King was sworn in on April 13, 2016 to succeed Will Burns, who resigned to become Vice President of Governmental Affairs with AirBnB. Prior to her appointment to the Chicago City Council by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, she was President of Harriet’s Daughters, a non-profit organization dedicated to employment and wealth creation opportunities for African-American neighborhoods.

In anticipation of running for the seat in the 2017 special election, King created a political action committee on March 9, 2016. King was appointed from a field of three finalists and eighteen initial applicants.

In 1996, King helped to establish Ariel Community Academy, a K-8 school, with Ariel Investments C.E.O. Mellody Hobson. She was involved in 2007-2008 with Obama's primary campaign and general election campaign.

King was born in Colorado and later raised in Evanston, Illinois. She earned a bachelor's from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's in education and social policy from Northwestern University. In the late 1980s, King moved to Kenwood in a house she built with her husband Alan. Her husband studied for the bar with Michelle Obama and they are friends of the Obama family.