BELMONT CRAGIN — Felix Cardona Jr. bounced Ald. Milly Santiago from her 31st Ward seat on Tuesday.

With 97.5 percent of the precincts reporting, Cardona won about 54.4 percent of the vote to Santiago’s 45.6 percent, according to unofficial election results provided by the Chicago Board of Elections.

In the February general election, incumbent Santiago won about 40 percent of the vote to Cardona’s 33 percent, forcing her into a runoff with the first-time candidate. A candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff against the second-place finisher.

Santiago, a former TV reporter, narrowly won the seat in 2015. She beat longtime 31st Ward alderman Ray Suarez, who had held the seat since 1991.

In 2016, Santiago made headlines when she complained about a new rule that bans aldermen from taking advantage of an offer from the Chicago Cubs to buy postseason tickets at face value. She later apologized.

In the lead-up to this election, Santiago announced she had secured Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funding for improvements to Kosciuszko Park, Portage-Cragin Library and Foreman College and Career Prep.

Cardona worked for the Cook County Board of Review and the Cook County Assessor’s Office. His father served as vice president of the Puerto Rican Parade Committee in the 1990s.

The 31st Ward includes parts of Hermosa, Belmont Cragin, Portage Park and Logan Square.

Do stories like this matter to you? Subscribe to Block Club Chicago. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.