'Chicago P.D.' season 7: Who was newly-elected Mayor Kelton and why did Voight want him dead?
Brian Kelton (John C. McGinley) was the major villain of season 6 of 'Chicago P.D'. He was first mentioned in the season premiere when the team was mourning Alvin Olinsky's (Elias Koteas) death. Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) was promised help to clear Olinsky's name if he helped Superintendent Kelton get elected as mayor. However, by the middle of the season, it was understood that Kelton was corrupt and Voight also learned that Kelton knowingly let a serial killer get away who then murdered one of Voight's informants. Kelton was played by McGinley (Scrubs) in a performance that saw him play the villain in a convincing way.
It is when Voight learned of Kelton's role in the serial killer's escape that caused him to pursue a vendetta against him. This is when Voight entered into an agreement with Kelton's opponent in the mayoral elections, Ray Price. During the season, Kelton reopened a case in which Ruzek took the fall for Antonio (who had pushed a dealer out of the window after his daughter was abducted). This was clearly done to get back at Voight's people. Later, Kelton's man, Blair was found murdered (side note: Blair was also Kim Burgess's boyfriend) and it was revealed that Price's wife was the real killer. Rather than letting his wife go to jail, Price takes the blame with Voight's help, giving Kelton an easy victory in the season finale. Then Voight tells Halstead he's going to go see Kelton and do what needs to be done. Later, Halstead, Burgess, and Atwater receive a call at Kelton's home and find out that he's been shot dead. In the next scene, Voight is seen driving away.
Halstead and Voight went head to head many times over the season on how to handle Kelton and Halstead would usually be smarter, once even stopping Voight from accusing Kelton publicly saying they needed to play the long game. Certainly, it would seem that Halstead's main suspect could be Voight. Would Kelton be a bigger villain in his death and prove to be the man who finally gets Voight thrown in jail? If Voight did not kill Kelton, however, this would be an easy way to solve all the problems Kelton created for the team in the previous season (reminder that Ruzek is in jail when season 6 ended). However, it would set the scene for brewing antagonism between Halstead and Voight which could be a major point in next season's finale. The hunt for Kelton's killer would certainly be the main focus of the season 7 premiere and viewers will just have to wait to find out whether the Intelligence team would undergo another major team change.
'Chicago P.D.' Season 7 will premiere on NBC on September 25th, 2019.
