Greens win in Illinois

Five candidates take office

From the Illinois Green Party website: ILGP.org
While most of April’s elections were officially nonpartisan, Illinois Green Party members competed in elections across the state, with five candidates winning their races. If these wins hold, the ILGP’s number of officeholders state­wide would grow to ten.

Jessica Bradshaw

The big win belongs to Green Party member Jessica Bradshaw, who appears to have been elected to Carbondale City Council in a hard-fought nonpartisan race. In the 12-candidate race for three city council seats, Bradshaw came in third and earned 697 votes, or 15.59 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial returns.

“We knocked on over 4,000 doors in just a few months,” said Bradshaw. “It was hard work, but it showed that the way to win is by getting to know, and listening to, the people.”

For Thornton Township High School Dis­trict number 205, Green Party member Kenneth Williams appears to have been re-elected as School Board Member. With 90 of 91 precincts reporting, Williams is the top vote getter, with 7,575 votes at 16 percent. Williams currently serves as School Board President for the district.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, accountant Sandy Lezon is in second place in her race for Warrenville Library Board, leading the third-place candidate by two votes. If this lead holds after absentee ballots are counted, Lezon will become the second Green Party member to hold office in DuPage County.

In Oak Park, Bruce Samuels came in second in a field of five for four seats and was re-elected to the Oak Park Library Board. In Will County, Robert Braam was re-elected to the Manhattan Library Board, polling nearly 24 percent and coming in fourth for four seats. Rita Maniotis, of Berwyn, part of a reform slate running for Morton High School District 201 Board, came in seventh among 11 candidates for four seats. Chuck Dieringer came in fifth in a race for two seats for Trustee of Prairie State College. He also came in second in a one-seat race for Trustee of Schools for Bloom Township.

Greens also participated in two partisan races. LeAlan Jones, who ran in the special election for Jesse Jackson Jr’s former seat in the 2nd Congressional District, came in fourth of six candidates with nearly 2 percent of the vote. Frank Wedig came in fifth for four seats in the race for Dorr Township Trustee in Mc­Henry County, re­ceiving over 12 percent of the vote.

“Our success today shows that Illinois Greens running for local office, with determination and effort, can win—and, as Bruce and Kenny have shown, can win re-election as well, after proving themselves to be good representatives of the people’s interest,” said ILGP Chair Rich Whitney. “This is how we will build our party, and prepare to win at higher levels of government in upcoming election cycles.”

For more information about the Illinois Green Party, see ILGP.org