Candidates Line Up To File For School Board Seats In Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL — Candidate filing to run in school board elections in the upcoming April 2021 Consolidated Election opened Monday, with 482 candidates filing to run for school boards across Cook County. The candidate filing period lasts through Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.

School board candidates brought their nomination petitions on Monday to the Cook County Clerk’s office in downtown Chicago, the Elections Operations Center in Cicero, and at filing centers in Orland Park and Mt. Prospect.

With four seats open on the Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 school board, three candidates filed on Monday. Incumbents Rob Loehr and Judy Ott filed their nominating petitions, along with newcomer Edward Wolf.

CHSD 218, which includes Richards, Shepard and Eisenhower high schools, saw seven candidates filing to run in Dist. 218’s sub-districts. Incumbents Cindy Barteczak (Dist. 2), William Christian (Dist. 7) and Tom Kosowski (Dist. 4) filied their paperwork on Monday. It’s not known if Randy Heuser plans to run for another 4-year term in Dist, 3.

Challengers who filed to run for seats on the D218 board include Tanjilisa Williams, Matthew Heinlen, Candice Cantelo and Frank Gassmere Jr.

Four incumbents have so far decided to run in Oak Lawn-Hometown School Dist. 123, including Peter DeRousse, Jay Lurquin Brian Nichols and Jackie Lichter, each who filed on Monday.

Incumbents Pat Pulver and David Lis are running for another term on the Ridgeland Dist. 122 school board. Challenger Steven Nicefora filed his nominating papers on Monday.

The Orland Park Civic Center saw the most traffic with 218 candidates submitting their paper work on Monday, followed by Mt. Prospect (140), Cicero (70) and the Cook County Clerk’s downtown office (54). A list of candidates who filed paperwork to run in April 2021 can be found on the Cook County Clerk’s website.

From Dec. 15 to Dec.18, and Monday Dec. 21, school board candidates’ paperwork can only be filed at the clerk’s office in downtown Chicago at 69 W. Washington St., 5th floor, or the Cicero Elections Operations Center, 1330 S. 54th Ave., Cicero. Historically, most candidates, as they are running for suburban school district seats, file at the suburban locations.

"It is very exciting to see so many people actively participating in the democratic process in their local communities," Cook County Clerk Karen A. Yarbrough said in a news release. “These elections are often overlooked although they have the most impact on our day-to-day lives.”

All candidates who were in line by 8 a.m. on December 14 had their papers stamped with that time. If more than one candidate seeking the same office filed at 8 a.m., a lottery will be conducted to determine whose name will appear first on the ballot. Candidates for the same office who file between 4 and 5 p.m. on Dec. 21, the last day of filing, will also be included in a ballot lottery for the last spot on the ballot. Anyone who filed between 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 14 and 3:59 p.m. on Dec. 21 will be on the ballot in the order they turned in their nomination paperwork.

Candidates for other local jurisdictions, such as municipalities and municipal park and library boards, file with the district in which they are seeking election.

The Cook County Officers’ Electoral Board, which is chaired by the clerk’s designee and includes representatives from the State’s Attorney and Circuit Court Clerk, oversees objections to school board candidates, in addition to hearing objections to library, police, fire and sanitary district candidacies. Municipal electoral boards hear objections to candidates for suburban municipal offices.

Candidates for other local jurisdictions, such as municipalities and municipal park and library boards, file with the district in which they are seeking election.

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