Patrick J. O'Connor (born June 21, 1955) is a former Chicago politician. He is the former alderman in Chicago's City Council representing the 40th ward on the North Side of the city. He was first elected in 1983 at age 28. His tenure ended in May 2019 after his loss to challenger Andre Vasquez in the 2019 Chicago aldermanic elections. O'Connor was an unsuccessful candidate in the Democratic Party primary election for Illinois's 5th congressional district special election, 2009. Early life O'Connor is the son of a Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation, Bureau of Equipment Services, under Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. O'Connor graduated from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in 1979. Fresh from law school, O'Connor successfully sued the city for back pay for his father after Mayor Jane Byrne fired him. Chicago City Council (1983–2019) O'Connor was first elected alderman for the 40th ward in 1983. He was subsequently reelected eight times, in 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015. In 2019, he was denied a tenth term on the City Council, being unseated by challenger Andre Vasquez. Council Wars During the tenure of Mayor Harold Washington, who was black, O'Connor, who is white, caucused with the mostly-white opposition block in City Council known as the "Vrdolyak 29". O'Connor chaired the City Council's Committee on Education as a freshman alderman. Investigations and controversies In his first term, a federal grand jury investigated O'Connor for providing, in late 1983 and again in late 1984, year-end jobs on the Education Committee staff for fifteen persons, including his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his sister-in-law, wives of two former members of his law firm, and the wife of a former staff aide. Some of those hired admitted they did not realize they were on the City payroll. "All in the Family" was a popular name for O'Connor's hiring practices, and O'Connor became known as the "City Hall Santa". O'Connor compared his hiring practices to those of Britain's royal family. When asked at a City Hall news conference if the practice amounted to nepotism, O'Connor said: "Absolutely. I think nepotism is a system that has been around a long time. It has worked very well in England. I don't think it's been much more of a problem here." In 2008, O'Connor was found to be one of seven Chicago aldermen who between them got ten of