The good new for Chicago's 12 Northwest Side aldermen is that none was defeated on Feb. 27. Three were unopposed. Six defeated desultory challenges. And three --- Berny Stone (50th), Ted Matlak (32nd) and Rey Colon (35th) -- were forced into an April 17 runoff.

The bad news is that, compared to 2003 election, the vote totals of 11 aldermen declined in 2007, ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent. Overall, the dozen incumbents amassed 71,744 votes, which was 11,672 fewer than the 83,416 they received in 2003.

It should be remembered that each Chicago ward has about 66,000 residents and 25,000 to 35,000 registered voters. Not a single area alderman cracked 10,000 votes in 2007, which indicates support from roughly one-third of the electorate. As shown in the adjoining vote chart, six didn't even crack 6,000 votes. The champion vote getter was Brian Doherty, with 9,990.

The two Hispanic aldermen -- Colon and Ariel Reboyras - were first elected to the City Council in 2003, and they were dismal vote getters. Reboyras won with 3,436 votes, and Colon's total of 3,038 votes was less than a majority. Of the 10 remaining aldermen, all but Matlak have served three or more terms.

Over time, every alderman suffers voter fatigue and dissatisfaction. As glorified ward housekeepers, they can't please all their constituents all of the time. But they each have a static core of support in their wards, and they are safe as long as turnout stays low. They all caught a huge break in 2007, as voters disenchanted about Rich Daley had no viable alternative in the mayor's race, so they didn't vote.

All 12 incumbents are Daley loyalists, although some dissented from the mayor on the big-box living wage issue. Had there been a credible anti-Daley "reform" candidate who focused on City Hall corruption, turnout would have been much higher and those anti-Daley voters would have supported anti-Daley aldermanic challengers.

That Stone, Matlak and Colon failed to win a majority in an anemic turnout is proof of dissatisfaction or fatigue in their wards. Here's an analysis of several races:

45th Ward: If Alderman Pat Levar had poured any more resources into his campaign, he probably would have created a permanent sinkhole under Milwaukee Avenue.  Levar had oodles of money and manpower, many signs and high visibility, 20 years of incumbency, support from the mayor and labor, a slew of imported strategists, a flawed opponent and the emotional sentiment to "win this one for Tom," in reference to the late Democratic committeeman Tom Lyons, who died in January. Yet Levar limped to a 56 percent victory, getting 7,380 votes. Had he gotten 818 fewer votes, he would have been in a runoff.

Levar had 1,287 fewer votes in 2007 than in 2003, when he won with 65 percent of the vote. He had 3,170 fewer votes than Daley. In 2003 his two opponents got a combined 4,736 votes; in 2007 his three foes got a combined 5,745 votes. Levar had 14,199 votes in 1999, 10,842 votes in 1995 and 15,850 votes in 1991. Clearly, his popularity is eroding.

According to both campaign disclosures and other sources, Levar spent almost $250,000. He had more than a dozen mailings, including two negative pieces on his principal opponent, Terry Boyke. He got nearly 9,000 signatures on his nominating petitions, proof of an enormous precinct army. Levar had 600 workers on the street on Feb. 27. He brought in 38th Ward Democratic Committeeman Patty Jo Cullerton to run his campaign office, and 38th Ward Alderman Tom Allen, who was running unopposed, was his unofficial campaign manager. Levar also hired Dominic Longo and his roving precinct operation. He had 18 billboards, 450 large building signs and 2,000 lawn signs. Boyke, his former aide, was trashed as a turncoat and was slammed in one mailing for being in the pocket of developers and in another for being a developer himself and "flipping" one parcel.

Boyke had worked for Levar for 6 years, and his job was to handle zoning matters. Ward observers got a good chuckle from the hypocritical spectacle of Boyke ripping his former boss for incompetence and of the development-friendly Levar ripping Boyke as being in developers' pocket.

Boyke spent about $70,000, contributing $7,100 himself. He had just one mailing, the weekend before the election. "It was lost in the clutter," he admits. Boyke finished with 4,004 votes, with 1,086 for Anna Klocek and 655 for Bob Bank. In 2003 Pete Conway ran an anti-Levar campaign and finished with 4,475 votes.

"I couldn't overcome their resources," Boyke said. "But if I had just 15 more votes per precinct, there would have been a runoff." Boyke said he is "keeping his options open" for a possible run for ward Democratic committeeman in 2008 and for another aldermanic bid in 2011. "He's lost his zeal for the job," Boyke said of Levar. "He won't run again." Rumors abound that Levar wants to hand off his job to his son, Pat Jr. "I'd love to run against Junior," Boyke said.

A behind-the-scenes battle is raging between Levar and state Representative Joe Lyons for the committeeman's post. The ward's precinct captains will make the choice. "Joe will win, and Pat should stay out," one precinct captain said. "If those two fight, it will split the organization."

41st Ward: Nobody doesn't beat somebody. In Chicago aldermanic elections, however, a big field of nobodies can occasionally corral enough votes to keep somebody -- an unpopular alderman -- from getting 50 percent of the vote. It happened in 1991, when Brian Doherty was a "nobody" but ended up in a runoff and beat Roman Pucinski. This year Doherty demolished Mike Hannon and Don Markham with 72 percent of the vote. Doherty won with 73 percent of the vote in 2003, 75 percent in 1999 and 76 percent in 1995. He's safe for the foreseeable future.

36th Ward: Opposition can be an irritation, but it also can be a revelation. Alderman Bill Banks, who is also the ward's Democratic committeeman and chairman of the City Council Zoning Committee, had no opposition in 1995, 1999 or 2003. Did that mean he was enormously popular? Or did it mean that there was a simmering anti-Banks vote lying dormant in the ward, waiting to be energized? Firefighter Nick Sposato thought it was the latter. He was wrong.

Banks had more than $800,000 in his campaign account and had workers five and six deep in every precinct. Sposato survived Banks' effort to knock him off the ballot, spent $50,000 -- and got crushed. Banks had 8,291 votes (76 percent of the total cast), to Sposato's 2,595 votes. To be sure, Banks' vote declined from 10,141 in 2003, 13,534 in 1999 and 12,012 in 1995, but in 1991 he won 13,540-5,473, with 71 percent of the vote. In 16 years Banks' vote has dwindled by about 40 percent, but the anti-Banks vote has dropped by more than 50 percent. The 2007 message is that Banks is still the boss. Expect him to be unopposed in 2011 and 2015.

35th Ward: Issues matter. Perceptions matter. And commitment matters.

Back in both 1999 and 2003, community activist Rey Colon ran for alderman as an anti-Daley reformer, blasting Alderman Vilma Colom as a Daley puppet and promising to be an independent alderman. The mayor sent the Hispanic Democratic Organization to rescue Colom, and Alderman Dick Mell dispatched dozens of workers. In a huge upset, Colon beat Colom 4,444-3,212, and immediately sold out to the mayor and joined the HDO.

The Logan Square ward is heavily Puerto Rican, but it has a large pocket of lower middle class white residents, many of whom are aging 1960s-style "hippies" who run the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and whose politics is about 20 degrees to the left of "liberal." They form the People's Socialist Republic of Logan Square. They enthusiastically backed Colon in 2003, they were livid when he defected to Daley, and they view him as a traitor.

Colom's reputation for arrogance contributed to her demise. After her 2003 defeat she began running again, did a mea culpa and promised to be an anti-Daley alderman. Colon, now a Daley loyalist, ran with the mayor's and the HDO's support. In effect, both are running on the premise that they didn't mean what they once said, but now say what they really mean, and that they won't switch sides again. Trust me, they chime.

To which the white leftists reply: The heck both of you. In February they backed Miguel Sotomayor, and he finished with 1,291 votes (20 percent), to Colon's 3,038 (46 percent) and Colom's 2,218 (34 percent). Colon had 1,406 fewer votes than in 2003, and Colom had 994 fewer. To Sotomayor's backers, the Colon-Colom choice is worse than the lesser of two evils.

To win, Colom needs 75 percent of Sotomayor's votes, but half won't vote and Colon will win by 200 votes.