Mostly Uncontested Elections In Winnetka, Glencoe, Northfield

WINNETKA-GLENCOE, IL — Though the new year has only just begun, deadlines have already passed for candidates running for office upcoming consolidated municipal elections — as well as those seeking to challenge their nominating petitions.

Voters in New Trier Township communities will be selecting new mayors, trustees, school board members, park commissioners and more. The candidates listed in bold below have filed paperwork to appear on the April 6 ballot, according to local election authorities.

While the village board races will not be competitive in Glencoe, Northfield or Winnetka, two of the three communities will have new village presidents. Meanwhile, Wilmette and Kenilworth have competitive races for the top post.

But local voters will have a say in the competitive race for New Trier High School District 203 board, where two candidates are challenging the caucus-backed slate of nominees.

Candidates still have until Feb. 4 to file a notarized declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, otherwise write-in votes in their name will not be counted.

School Boards

There are six candidates competing for four seats on the New Trier High School District 203. The lone incumbent is Keith Dronen, of Wilmette.

Kimberly Alcantara, of Wilmette, Julie Cho, of Wilmette, Avik Das, of Glenview, Chad Prodromos, of Winnetka, and Sally Tomlinson, of Winnetka will appear on the ballot.

Incumbents Carol Ducommun, Marc Glucksman and Greg Robitaille did not file paperwork to run again. Alcantara, Das and Tomlinson were endorsed by the New Trier Caucus, which is composed of 45 delegates from the high school's feeder districts.

There are no challenges to caucus-backed candidates in Glencoe School District 35, Winnetka School District 36 or Kenilworth School District 38.

Four candidates are running for four seats on the District 35 board. Incumbent Marc Gale is running for re-election but fellow board members Melissa Estes and Ashley Kain Silver are not. Silver applied for the endorsement of the caucus but did not receive it, according to Pioneer Press, while Estes did not seek the group's endorsement. Gale will be joined by the ballot by Kelly Glauberman and Joshua Markus.

In District 36, Steve Cirulis is the lone incumbent running for another term. He is set to be joined by Alyssa Rapp and Dan Waters.

In District 38, incumbents William Graham and Stephen Potter are due to be joined by Paul Anderson and Ashish Kaura.

Sunset Ridge School District 29 and Wilmette School District 39 will have competitive elections.

In District 29, incumbents Bill Hayes and Anne Peterson are both stepping down, and four candidates are competing to succeed them: Nancy Detlefsen, Samuel Dotzler, Abigayil Joseph and Holt Zeidler.

But there will be fewer declared candidates on the ballot for Avoca School District 37 than available seats. There are four vacant seats but only three candidates — incumbent Gil Gibori and newcomers Ami Desai Das and Cecila Dunn.

Gibori filed a challenge seeking to have Dunn removed from the ballot. He alleged Dunn failed to number or notarize her nominating petitions as required by the Illinois Election Code. A hearing on the challenge is due to begin Tuesday morning.

Village/Library/Park District Boards

Winnetka

No candidates filed paperwork to challenge those endorsed by the Winnetka Caucus Council Corporation on the ballot for village or park boards.

Incumbent Village President Chris Rintz, incumbent Trustees Andy Cripe and Bob Dearborn are set to be joined by former Winnetka Community Nursery School Board member Kim Mancini.

The caucus group initially endorsed Jonathan Alt for trustee in October, but Alt did not file paperwork to appear on the ballot. No further information was immediately available from a caucus representative.

On the Winnetka Park District board, incumbent Commissioners Warren James and Eric Lussen are set to be joined by newcomer Colleen Root.

Northfield

In Northfield: Village President Joan Frazier is stepping down after 14 years on the village board as president and trustee. Incumbent trustees John Goodwin and Thomas Terill are also not seeking another term.

Four candidates were interviewed for the four openings on the board, according to minutes from the Northfield Village Caucus' biennial town meeting. All four received the endorsement of the party via the roughly dozen people in attendance.

Frazier is set to be succeeded as village president by Trustee Gregory Lungmas. He, along with candidates Barnaby Dinges, Matthew Gallin and Tracey Mendrek, also received the endorsement of the caucus group.

A pair of independent candidates, Charles Orth and Tom Whittaker, defeated caucus-backed candidates in the April 2019 elections.

Glencoe

In Glencoe, there are no competitive elections on the ballot in April.

Incumbent Village President Larry Levine is not seeking a third term in office. The only candidate who filed paperwork to succeed him is Howard Roin, who earned the endorsement of the local caucus party.

On the village board, incumbent Trustees Gail Lissner and Gary Ruben are running for re-election, while Barbara Miller is not. She is set to be replaced by outgoing Glencoe Park District Commissioner Dudley Onderdonk.

Three candidates are seeking three seats on the park board: Incumbent Stefanie Boron, who will appear on the ballot for a second term, will be joined by Brandon Hinkle and Bart Schneider. Incumbent John Lutton will not seek another term, while Onderdonk is slated to for a village board seat.

On the library board, incumbents Bruce Ronner, Laura Solon and John Tuohy are set to be joined by Michael Pope and Beth Schnecker.

The co-chair of the caucus group's candidate committee told Pioneer Press there were 11 candidates who sought the party's nomination for one of the five seats on the library district's board, six village board hopefuls for three available seats and four people looking for an endorsement for one of three open seats on the park district board. No information was available Monday morning about the number of people who participated in its town hall.

Wilmette

Wilmette, where candidate slating is not dominated by a single caucus party, will see competitive elections for village board, library board and the park board.

Village President Bob Bielinski cannot run for re-election a third time after serving on the village board since 2011 and as its chair since 2013. Two sitting trustees are competing to replace him: Joel Kurzman, who is completing his first term on the board, faces Senta Plunkett, who is midway through her second.

There are nine people running for three seats on the Wilmette Park District Board of Commissioners. Bryan Abbott is the lone incumbent on the ballot. Other candidates include Mike Doyle, Rich DeLeo, Patrick Duffy, Allison Frazier, Walter Keats, Kara Kosloskus and Mark Schumacher.

And six people have filed paperwork for three seats on the board of the Wilmette Public Libary — incumbents Ronald Rodgers and Stuart Wolf are facing challenges from Julie Cho, Mary Anne O'Keefe, Patricia Nealon and Tracy Sommer.

Kenilworth

Kenilworth has competitive village board races on the April ballot. Village President Ann Potter is stepping down after a single term in office.

Two candidates will appear on the ballot to succeed her — outgoing Trustee Cecily Kaz and Paul O'Connor. And four candidates are on the ballot competing for three village board seats: Amelia Hannus, Walter Kelly, Marjorie MacLean and Christopher Ottsenn. Meanwhile, Michael Gagnon is running unopposed for a first term as village clerk.

Four new candidates are set to win seats on the Kenilworth Library District Board. With no incumbent up for re-election seeking another term, Julie Atkin, Alexandra Buck, Peter Driscoll and Kathryn Kirrish are all unopposed. There is no public library in the village but the board contracts with the Wilmette and Winnetka-Northfield public library districts.

Three incumbents are running unopposed in the Kenilworth Park District: John Hart, Emily D'Souza and Stacey Sunderland.