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Election promises to shake up city council
POLITICS | Patrick Yeagle
The April 7 general election is still more than a week away, but one thing is for sure: the Springfield City Council is in for some turnover.
Springfield’s 10 ward seats are up for re-election on April 7, and two of the races are already decided; Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner and Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe are unchallenged and will retain their seats. However, at least five of the remaining eight seats will go to candidates not currently on the council because no incumbent is running.
Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards is running for city treasurer after reaching the limit of three consecutive terms on the council. Ward 4 Ald. Frank Lesko is running for city clerk, while Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson ran for mayor but was eliminated in the primary election. Ward 9 Ald. Steve Dove and Ward 10 Ald. Jim McDonough are not running for re-election.
Three incumbent aldermen face challengers this election. In Ward 5, which covers Springfield’s central north side, incumbent Ald. Sam Cahnman faces well-funded challenger Andrew Proctor, who works as director of legislative affairs for the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Cahnman fended off one challenger in 2007 and another in 2011, winning by a narrow margin both times. He reported having $3,480 in his campaign coffers at the end of 2014, according to records from the Illinois State Board of Elections, and he has since reported four more large donations totaling $5,500. Proctor has about $20,000 on hand.
Contributions below $1,000 are filed in a quarterly report which isn’t due until April 15, a week after the election. That means candidates may have raised more money through small donations which don’t get reported as they are received.
Cahnman’s narrow wins in Ward 5 in the past two elections and Proctor’s stronger fundraising and polished campaign could mean trouble for the sitting alderman. Proctor’s campaign is tailored to needs of the inner city neighborhood he hopes to represent, and he has canvassed the ward seeking support. Still, Cahnman has several popular accomplishments under his belt, like the city’s ordinance against panhandling, and he devotes considerable energy to walking his ward door-to-door for votes.
Write-in candidate Dominic Watson is also running in Ward 5, but his name will not appear on the April 7 ballot.
Incumbent Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin faces two challengers for his seat: Sarah Pavlik, a Springfield attorney and Capital Township trustee, and Michael Higgins, owner and chef of Maldaner’s Restaurant. McMenamin beat Higgins and another challenger in 2011, garnering almost 44 percent of the vote to Higgins’ 34 percent. Additionally, McMenamin is in the lead moneywise, having raised nearly $30,000. Higgins has raised less than $7,500 and Pavlik has raised slightly more than $16,000.
McMenamin showed in 2011 that he could beat Higgins, but Pavlik’s large fundraising total and strong legal background give her a fighting chance against the outspoken incumbent. Ward 7 surrounds Leland Grove on Springfield’s near west side.
In Ward 8, covering part of the area north and west of Washington Park, incumbent Ald. Kris Theilen is being challenged by Ernie Slottag, who retired in 2012 as the city of Springfield’s communication director after 17 years. Theilen first won the office in 2007 with 51 percent of the vote against one other candidate, and he ran unopposed in 2011. At the end of 2014, Theilen reported having $1,907 on hand, with $7,500 in additional large donations reported since then. Slottag reported having $2,687 on hand when he formed his political committee in January, and he has not reported any further large donations. Theilen’s large fundraising lead and incumbent status in Ward 8 give him an advantage over Slottag, but Slottag’s strong name recognition and intimate familiarity with city government could even up the race.
If Cahnman, McMenamin and Theilen were to lose their seats, it would leave only two of the existing aldermen in power after the election.
This election also raises the possibility of increasing the number of African- American aldermen from two to three. Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner is running unopposed, and both candidates in Ward 2 are African-American, meaning there will be at least two African-American aldermen after the election. If Ward 1 candidate T. Ray McJunkins were to defeat former alderman and current candidate Chuck Redpath, McJunkins would provide a third African-American vote on the council. McJunkins is pastor of Union Baptist Church in Springfield, while Redpath is director of security for Memorial Medical Center.
For more information on voting in the April 7 election, visit www. sangamoncountyclerk.com/elections.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].
