Joanne Alter - political puzzle

I was glad to receive Joanne Alter’s endorsement when I ran for 50th Ward Alderman in 1983. But other Independents were spurned.

Alter won election as a Metropolitan Sanitary District Trustee (the position is now called Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner) when she was a slated candidate in 1972 and she endorsed a couple of Machine candidates in key Aldermanic races in 1975.

She was re-slated for her position in 1978 despite having challenged the slated candidate for Lt. Governor in 1976. She endorsed a Machine incumbent, rather than an Independent challenger for an MSD spot in 1986 and ran against both the slated candidate and victorious Independent David Orr for Cook County Clerk in the 1990 Democratic primary.

She also endorsed some Independents, like me, during her tenure. Attempts to categorize her politically were challenging.