Chicago Teachers Union election primer

The Chicago Teachers Union holds its tri-annual election Friday.

Why it matters: The CTU has emerged as arguably the most powerful labor force in the city. Its moves affect hundreds of thousands of residents and rattle the mayor.

The big picture: The race is largely seen as a referendum on the broad progressive advocacy and combative styles of its current leaders, outgoing president Jesse Sharkey and vice president Stacy Davis Gates.

• Challengers say they want less focus on political personalities and more on bread-and-butter issues like prep time and benefits.

Between the lines: There are three caucuses with candidates for president, including:

CORE: Davis Gates is running on continued progressive momentum and the leadership's record on:

• Class size protections.
• Cost of living raises and COVID-19 safety agreements.
• Winning bargaining rights and a fully elected school board.

Members First: Mary Esposito-Usterbowski is pushing a platform of "change" through strategies like:

• Engaging in collaboration "with all stakeholders."
• Creating more transparency by posting CTU records "in a timely manner."
• Using strikes and work stoppages as the last step.

REAL: Darnell Dowd leads this caucus of former CORE supporters "concerned about the direction of the CTU." REAL promises to:

• "Track bully[ing] administrators" and "publicly call out toxic school leadership."
• "Include a minimum of two rank-and-file members" in most bargaining discussions.
• "Add a CTU hotline" to address member needs in a timely manner.

What's next: A caucus needs to win more than 50% of the vote, which ends Friday, to avoid a runoff.