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* We saw some consequential election results last night. Let’s start with this one…
The Homer Township Reset slate, a group of Republicans challenging the incumbent township administration, was leading by a large margin Tuesday night in the Homer Township Republican primary after all precincts reported, according to unofficial results.
The Will County Freedom Caucus headed by incumbent Supervisor Steve Balich sought an additional four years, but the Homer Township Reset slate, said they wanted to change the tone of the community.
The race was fueled by allegations the current administration divides the community, isn’t transparent and hires family members of elected officials for full-time township jobs.
Members of Homer Township Reset said the existing administration did not respect residents’ viewpoints. Residents were chastised during public meetings, and the administration didn’t listen to residents’ concerns when they tried to sell open space property.
That’s pretty amazing.
You may recall Supervisor Balich…
The Republican leader of the Will County Board, who also serves as Homer Township supervisor, is defending himself after ordering the U.S. flag outside the township offices to be flown upside down Friday as a symbol of national “distress” following former President Donald Trump’s conviction last week on 34 felony counts.
Steve Balich, long a controversial right-wing figure in Will County politics, is also a Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July and has been hosting regular weekend rallies for the former Republican president.
In a statement posted on the township’s website, Balich sought to explain his decision to fly the inverted flag outside the taxpayer-funded offices. He said it was “bigger than Republican vs. Democrat” as he also repeated a series of Trump-related campaign talking points critical of Democrats about immigration, inflation and the judicial system.
* This result was fully expected…
Trustee Jason House handily won the race for mayor of south suburban Dolton Tuesday, defeating former ally and embattled incumbent Tiffany Henyard and bringing her sole, troubled term to a close in a stunning landslide.
With 100% of precincts reporting, House had nearly 88% of the vote, compared to Henyard’s 12%. It was a convincing defeat for Henyard, who had won 82% of the vote when she won the race for mayor in 2021.
House and the rest of his “Clean House” slate walked out to a recording of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance of “Not Like Us,” dancing their way to the podium before declaring victory. Later, when House’s victory was clear, he addressed his supporters.
Oof…
* According to the Daily Herald, Aurora requires a primary if four or more people run in the first round…
Incumbent Richard Irvin and Alderman-at-large John Laesch will battle April 1 for who gets to be mayor of Aurora.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election in Kane, Kendall and Will counties showed Irvin with 3,776 votes and Laesch 3,344, as of 9:15 p.m.
1,200 people voted for Alderman Ted Mesiacos, 373 for Karina Garcia and 989 for former alderman Judd Lofchie.
In DuPage, Kane and Will counties, the counts reflected all early, vote-by-mail and Election Day votes. Two precincts had yet to be counted in Kendall, but it was not clear if the Aurora race occurred in those precincts. There was a primary election in Oswego in Kendall.
The totals do not include any outstanding vote-by-mail ballots.
The third-place contestant Mesiacos was endorsed by US Sen. Dick Durbin…
I don't get involved in too many local races, but I wanted to make sure to support Ted Mesiacos in his run for Mayor of Aurora. Ted has the determination and commitment to lead Aurora residents into a better tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/BBPp01AYUt
— Dick Durbin (@DickDurbin) February 18, 2025
Also, Durbin involves himself in lots of local races.
Incumbent Cicero Town President Larry Dominick will serve a fifth straight four-year term, defeating Esteban Rodriguez in the primary election Tuesday evening.
Dominick received 4,586 votes (57.34%) compared to Rodriguez’s 3,412 (42.66%).
Rodriguez was challenging the longest-serving town president in Cicero’s history, Dominick, who has been in office since 2005. […]
“I’m always here for the people. I’ve worked for the town since 1970. I’ve been a lucky guy, worked as a garbage man, police man and now the town president. I’ve had a long run,” Dominick said.
* And, apparently, so is Riverdale…
In Riverdale, indicted Mayor Lawrence Jackson led with 59% of votes against challenger Michael Airhart, according to unofficials results. […]
Jackson was charged in 2023 with perjury and obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court for allegedly lying in a civil deposition about accepting secret funding for his trucking business from a clout-heavy waste hauling firm.
Jackson’s indictment alleged the mayor and his wife started their trucking company, Centennial Holdings, in 2018 despite knowing nothing about the business and putting up no capital. The business was run by James and Kelly Bracken, who own Riverdale Materials LLC, which was sued in 2018 by a competing company that said Jackson gave the business special treatment in his position as mayor. The indictment charges Jackson lied on the stand during proceedings in that lawsuit.
* Meanwhile…
* More races…
* Daily Southtown | Thaddeus Jones declares victory over James Patton in Calumet City mayoral race: Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones celebrated his victory Tuesday night in the city’s Democratic primary. With all 21 precincts reporting, Jones had 2,326 votes, or 60%, compared to 1,533 votes for Ald. James Patton, according to unofficial results from the Cook County clerk’s office. Calumet City filings show no challenger to the Democratic nominee in the April 1 general election. … Several incumbent candidates on Patton’s slate were leading Tuesday night, including 2nd Ward Ald. Monet Wilson, 5th Ward Ald. DeJuan Gardner and City Clerk Nyota Figgs. Figgs had 2,019 votes compared to Cassandra Hobert Elston’s 1,812, and Wilson had 499 votes to Erica Jenkins’ 421. Gardner was leading Roger Munda with 422 votes, or 77%. Members of Jones’ slate leading Tuesday night included Shalisa Harvey in the 1st Ward, with 173 votes to incumbent Ald. Michael Navarrette’s 148. Miacole Nelson was leading in the 6th Ward with 295 votes to Garnadette Stuckey’s 248.
* Shaw Local | Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk appears headed for defeat along with his slate: Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk is trailing behind challenger Richard Tado in the primary Republican election polls as of Tuesday night. … The Algonquin Township campaigns were marked by animosity, with incumbent trustees having filed nine censures against Funk from March 2023 through last December over how he ran the township. Candidates were split in two unofficial but sharply divided camps.
* Shaw Local | Oswego Village Trustee Kit Kuhrt behind in bid for second term: With 26 of 28 precincts reporting, Oswego Village Board Trustee Kit Kuhrt was behind in his bid for a second term on the board, according to unofficial results from the Oswego Village Board Republican primary. With two precincts left to be reported, Kuhrt is in fourth place with about 15% of the vote.
* Daily Southtown | Incumbents Jada Curry and Lawrence Jackson lead in Lynwood and Riverdale primaries: A passionate crowd of supporters gathered at Lynwood Bowling Center Tuesday night to rally behind Lynwood Village President Jada Curry, facing a challenge in the Democratic primary. Wearing shirts emblazoned with her slate’s campaign slogan, #LynwoodStrong, they gathered to show their support for the incumbent, who is in the lead with 62% of votes after all precincts reported, according to unofficial results from the Cook County clerk’s office.
* Shaw Local | Here are Will and Grundy counties’ unofficial February 2025 primary election results
* Peoria Journal-Star | ‘Full of gratitude’: Peoria mayor comfortably wins primary: Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and at-large City Councilmember John Kelly have secured their spots as Peoria’s mayoral candidates in April’s general election after emerging as the top two vote getters in Tuesday night’s primary election based on unofficial election results. With 100% of precincts reporting, mayoral candidate Chuck Grayeb, a city councilmember representing the 2nd District, does not have enough votes to advance in the race.
* Herald-Whig | Troup secures nomination in reelection bid for mayor: Quincy Mayor Mike Troup is one step closer to earning a second term. Troup, 67, defeated former 6th Ward Alderman Dan Brink for the Republican nomination for mayor in Tuesday’s consolidated primary election.
* WAND | Urbana and Lincoln Illinois’ Consolidated Primary Election results: In Urbana, Deshawn Williams is leading the mayoral race with over 64% of the votes, while Annie Adams has garnered 21% of the votes with 21 out of 23 precincts reporting. In the Ward 2 Alderman race, Christopher Evans edged out Larry Lister to win the Democratic primary. In Ward 6, Grace Wilken won the Democratic primary to hold onto her seat.
* WCIA | Urbana one step closer to meeting new mayor as primary election ends: The months-long contest between Williams and Adams has had people heading to the polls long before Tuesday. Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons said of the about 23,000 registered voters in the city, about 3,000 had casted their vote as of Tuesday afternoon. At that time, he said about 370 people had voted in person, 1,161 cast their ballot early and 1,435 mailed in their vote.
* Northwest Herald | Here are McHenry County’s unofficial February 2025 primary election results: Voters in McHenry County had their say in the February primary, which will help shape the coming April ballot. The results include early voting, vote-by-mail and Election Day ballots.
* McHenry County Blog | Mike Shorten Wipes Out Incumbent Nunda Township Supervisor Leda Bobera-Drain: McHenry County Board member Mike Shorten, a former Township Trustee, challenged incumbent Leda Bobera-Drain. The results show Shorten winning over 60-40%.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 7:42 am
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The indicted Riverdale mayor won the primary. Illinois desperately needs spring municipal primaries and November municipal general elections.
Comment by Macon Deliberations Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 7:47 am
Thank you for this round-up.
Comment by Dirty Red Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 8:16 am
Black and blue balloons at Heynards victory party. How fitting.
Comment by tumblin dice Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 8:21 am
Wonder if JB is gonna try to nuke Irvin now.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 8:50 am
thanks for the deets, Rich. all a reminder that there are too many elected offices in the state of Illinois.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 8:56 am
“Wonder if JB is gonna try to nuke Irvin now.”
JB didn’t “try” anything, he succeeded. Irvin is a small boat, who should have stayed close to shore.
Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:28 am
Let’s all count the minutes until Tiffany Heynard exits from her dual roles as Mayor of Dolton and Thornton Township Supervisor.
Comment by Gravitas Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:30 am
Heynard predicted that she would have a landslide “Just like Trump”. She wasn’t lying, I think Trump got below 20% in Dolton too.
Comment by Buttercow Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:31 am
Homer Township reminds us how unpopular Trumpism is in the suburbs, and also that what plays on Twitter does not necessarily play at the ballot box.
Heynard should go into hiding, she is so unpopular.
Irvin is well below 50% as an incumbent. He seems doomed unless he has the funds to go nuclear. But my bet is that the GOP has completely lost interest in funding him. A look at his D-2s could be interesting, especially given all of the accusations regarding his fundraising from those with city business.
Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:33 am
Was that Bill Foster behind Durbin at the Ted thing?
Yeah, Ted finished a distant third. One of the candidates dropped out near the end, with some speculation that they were in the race to force a primary
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:35 am
== Irvin is well below 50% as an incumbent. He seems doomed unless he has the funds to go nuclear. But my bet is that the GOP has completely lost interest in funding him. A look at his D-2s could be interesting, especially given all of the accusations regarding his fundraising from those with city busines ==
For whatever reason, they kept their powder dry when it came to going after John, there was a bit of stuff about the other folks.
Also, unless you voted in the Dem township primary, the mayoral race was the only thing on the ballot (made for quick voting) so turnout was low even by Aurora standards.
He has some work ahead of him, but I think it is his to lose. There was some union spending on Richards’ behalf and I expect that to continue.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:48 am
= Irvin is a small boat, who should have stayed close to shore.=
Comments like that one are why you continue to be one of my favorite posters here. That is really high end stuff there.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 9:56 am
I’m always a little surprised at how few people vote in these elections. For example, Aurora has a population of 180,000 and only 10,000 people voted in the election.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 10:19 am
== Heynard should go into hiding==
I’ve heard that prison can be a good place to get away from the public. Just sayin’
Comment by fs Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 10:25 am
4 term Bourbonnais Mayor Paul Schore was defeated in the primary by his village trustee opponent Jeff Keast. Only 15% turnout in the primary.
Comment by Aaron B Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 10:26 am
==Bourbonnais Mayor Paul Schore was defeated==
He got 39%. Big surprise for a long term incumbent. Got tied into the Gotion mess. Dem but endorsed Haas in general election last year.
Generally: Not a good night for incumbents.
Comment by Moist von Lipwig Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 11:02 am
Anyone keyed into the Homer Township situation could see the writing on the wall some time ago. The winners focused on doorknocking, building a coalition of people who had all been harmed, insulted, or rejected by the incumbents, and a disciplined message.
Balich and his team focused on the usual MAGA playbook, proclaimed that everyone involved was a democratic plant, and kept trying to park a giant red elephant in front of polling places all day yesterday.
None of what happened was shocking. It was the inevitable result of thinking that you can bring the federal circus to the local level. People like to visit the circus. They don’t want it to take up residence in their backyard.
Comment by VK Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 11:33 am
I would bet on Irvin, I’m not his biggest fan. But John Laesch is erratic at best at times. The possibility is there that he flames out. Unless he has matured since has previous forays, he has tended to choke at the end. After he lost to Bill Foster some role ago, he lost by like 370 votes and screamed holy murder about an unneeded recount.
Comment by Someone you should know Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 11:35 am
===But John Laesch is erratic at best at times===
And yet, Durbin’s guy still finished third.
lol
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 12:04 pm
Maybe Durbin will start reading tea leaves as his clout is less than impressive lately
Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 12:18 pm
===But John Laesch is erratic at best at times===
Laesch won a citywide election two years ago for an at large council seat against Irvin’s mentor who vastly outspend him. This time he beat the Kane County Dems/labor’s (minus 150) handpicked candidate who also vastly outspent him. Folks in Aurora are sick of Irvin, so much that they rejected Democrats “Irvin-lite” candidate, Mesicacos who voted lockstep with Irvin the last 8 years.
Comment by Steamed Hams Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 12:49 pm
Having seen John Laesch up close multiple times run for Congress when I was in school in DeKalb, he has no business in public office.
Comment by Rahm's Parking Meter Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 2:18 pm
It’s amazing that bipeds like Larry Dominick still walk the earth. Is Michael Del Galdo still the Cicero lawyer? Saw an article on the Cook County Record blog re. the Del Galdo office at 1441 S. Harlem:
“In April 2017, Del Galdo hosted a meeting at his office between then-Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick and several other political figures, the purported purpose of which was for Pritzker to procure Dominick’s support.”
Comment by Payback Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 4:22 pm
== Folks in Aurora are sick of Irvin ==
Most people in Aurora couldn’t pick either of them out of a lineup. Most people in Aurora seem to not care too much about local politics, at least in the 30 years I have lived here. They also can be a bit unpredictable when they do care.
Look at how well Lauzen used to do in Aurora in many neighborhoods that generally go very Democratic.
And yeah, John won a city-wide race, but the man was the Oberweis of the Democratic party, if you run enough, eventually you will win something.
He might pull it off, but I wouldn’t be measuring for new curtians in the mayors office quite yet.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 4:27 pm
@ Payback:
When Betty Lauren Maltese went to prison, Cicero finally shifted from being a Republican machine town into the Democratic column. Del Galdo was a Madigan proxy.
Comment by Gravitas Wednesday, Feb 26, 25 @ 4:28 pm
It wasn’t just Durbin who endorsed; that was a heavyweight lineup of Dems supporting them. Congressman Foster, County Board Chair of Kane County Corinne Peirog, County Board Chair Deb Conroy, Senator Linda Homes.
Those are all high profile folks and he didn’t make it past round 1.
Comment by Frida's Boss Thursday, Feb 27, 25 @ 12:46 am