A sure way to win an election is to eliminate any competition prior to the voting.
It has been attempted at various levels, and it has worked here locally on multiple occasions.
I get it, rules are rules, but some are antiquated, especially since there’s a dearth of candidates for many city, town, village and county offices. In the Nov. 5 general election there were vastly more uncontested races than ones which had more than one candidate.
There were only six contested races among the 14 Kankakee County Board seats up for election on Nov. 5.
The countywide offices of auditor, coroner, recorder and state’s attorney were all unopposed (there was a race for the auditor’s office in the primary). There was a contested race for Kankakee County Circuit Clerk with Republican incumbent Sandy Cianci defeating Democrat challenger Dondi Maricle.
It’s not easy to run for office. Not only do you have to have a little courage to seek a public office, you also have to cross your T’s and dot your I’s (and don’t forget to number your pages — like in grade school).
In the city of Kankakee there will be no primary on Feb. 25, 2025, directly because of successful challenges by Democratic candidates running for alderman/alderwoman spots. Deborah Ivy failed twice to run for alderwoman in the 6th Ward, first as a Democrat and then as an Independent.
Ivy’s filing as a Democrat was challenged by her opponent, incumbent alderwoman Kelly Johnson (the objection was filed by her husband, Brian Hiatt). Ivy failed to list the date of the primary (Feb. 25) on her filing papers which is required. She also didn’t file the required receipt of a filed economic interest statement with her nominating papers.
Ivy eventually withdrew her candidacy before the Kankakee Electoral Board would have likely thrown her off the ballot. Ivy subsequently tried to file as an Independent, but a candidate can’t switch parties in the same election cycle.
In Kankakee’s 5th Ward, Democrat incumbent Victor Nevarez also successfully challenged the candidacy of Kelly Anthony, based on errors in the filing papers as well.
In Bourbonnais, there was a similar successful challenge against three Republicans who were trying to run for trustee. Jacob Alexander-Hildebrand, Chad Meents and Ryan Krusinger were all thrown off the ballot for the April 1, 2025, municipal election because they didn’t have the required 25 signatures on their petitions.
The challenges were filed by the opposing People’s Choice Party who has a slate of candidates. The choice is an oxymoron at this point because there will be none for the trustee races.
Republican Party Chairman Nick Africano said the instructions were clear.
“Well, the state board has said that we were in the right the last time they challenged in Bourbonnais, but the lawyer that they had advising them in their electoral board advised them that it was wrong, that you needed 25 signatures,” Africano said. “We were under the impression, and the state board agrees with us, that it only needed to be six. But what do you do? You’re going to file suit?”
It would be cost prohibitive.
When it comes to filing for public office, there are no Mulligans or do-overs in the filing process.
Maybe there should be a grace period — give the candidates a second chance to correct their mistakes before eliminating competition. “You have 24 hours to correct your mistakes.” That would likely mean a seismic change to the process — politics as usual.
It’s easy to say “follow the directions.” If you can’t follow what appear to be clear directions, what does that say about you as a public officeholder? If you plan to run for office, it would be a good idea to talk with someone who has been through the process before and seek counsel from your party chairman.
Unfortunately, the big losers are the voters who are increasingly given less and less choices for public office, especially local ones.
Local politicians have a greater impact on your laws and ordinances that voters face on a regular basis than who might be representing you in Washington, D.C. — not to say those officials aren’t important. Yet, I heard from people younger than me that said they didn’t like the choices available, so they didn’t vote because it didn’t matter enough to them.
Voting is our greatest right as citizens of this great country, and we should take that more seriously than we are now. I guess it’s easier to voice your displeasure on social media than becoming an active participant in the process.
We must do better — both as potential candidates and as voters.
