Editorial: From Dolton to Will County, municipal voters stood against drama and for moderation
In a time of intense polarization, voters in municipal elections that were held Tuesday around the Chicago area showed encouraging signs of exhaustion with politicians' drama. On both the left and the right.
Look no further than the beleaguered overwhelmingly Democratic village of Dolton, which overwhelmingly drummed out its controversial mayor, Tiffany Henyard, after four years of chaos and governmental extravagance.
And on the other side of the political spectrum, primary voters in Will County's Homer Township, a GOP stronghold, sent packing a slate of incumbents whose MAGA-style posturing and divisiveness prompted a challenge from another GOP slate of candidates promising moderation.
To which we say: good! We are in great need of civility, moderation and simple competence in our politics. We hope that these early glimmers that a majority of voters want the same is repeated in the general municipal elections in April and next year and beyond.
In Homer Township, the extremely conservative slate of candidates called the Will County Freedom Caucus, led by Supervisor Steve Balich, lost to a rival group of candidates that dubbed itself the Homer Township Reset slate. Typifying the tactics Balich employed, he posted last month on X that his faction was prioritizing holding 'fellow Republicans to conservative principles,' and castigated his opponents as 'RINOs' (Republicans in Name Only.)
Homer Glen voters preferred the message of Balich opponent Susanna Steilen, a Homer Glen trustee, who emphasized fiscal responsibility, transparency and treating others with respect.
In south suburban Dolton, Trustee Jason House thrashed Henyard, winning 88% of the vote. Henyard's record of poor governance is well-documented, but she also brought national shame to the village, as conservative websites relished her misadventures. Dolton's woes — sky-high property taxes among them — won't disappear along with Henyard, but at least a new leader can focus on the issues rather than the political circus around him. We wish Dolton well in its chance at a fresh start.
Elsewhere, we saw more of the anti-incumbency strain that sunk the Democrats in the national election and returned Donald Trump to the presidency. In Aurora, voters seem to be tiring of two-term incumbent Republican Richard Irvin, who was the top vote getter but got just 38%. That doesn't bode well for his chances in the April 1 runoff, which will be a rematch of his 2021 race with Democratic Ald. John Laesch.
Aurora — Illinois' second largest city, with Latinos as the single largest demographic but sizable white, Black and Asian American populations — is an interesting combination of suburban sensibilities and the diversity of a big city like Chicago. It's also long been a manufacturing hub, with lots of blue collar workers. Laesch's performance in the primary is a testament to Aurora's increasingly progressive political climate. Laesch is well to the left, focusing for example on social justice and the environment. Irvin's more moderate approach emphasizes public safety, economic development and business.
And then there's Cicero, which is there to remind us that some things in Illinois never change. On Tuesday, a slate of incumbents swept the primary. The most notable win came from town President Larry Dominick, a former member of the Cicero Police Department who has held the position for 20 years. It's not just that Dominick emerged victorious; his entire slate, which calls itself the Cicero Voters Alliance, won. Still, mayoral challenger Esteban Rodriguez had a respectable showing, which is not the norm for Dominick, who ran uncontested in the 2017 and 2021 races.
The race raised important questions about immigration in a town where 90% of the population is Hispanic. Challenger Rodriguez wrote in an opinion piece for the Tribune last month, calling for Cicero to adopt sanctuary city protections for immigrants and calling Cicero 'ground zero as the most vulnerable town in Illinois during immigration raids.'
Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said that criticism was untrue, pointing out in a letter to the editor that in 2008 Cicero adopted the Safe Space Resolution, adding, 'We treat documented and undocumented residents in Cicero the same.'
Cicero continues to captivate spectators who don't live there. The city was home to a massive corruption scandal in the early 2000s, when former town President Betty Loren-Maltese was sent to prison for an insurance scam, convicted for attempting to steal $12 million from Cicero. Loren-Maltese was married to the late Frank Maltese, a convicted bookmaker involved in organized crime. It was Loren-Maltese's corruption scandal that led to Dominick's ascent in Cicero, where in 2005 he defeated her handpicked successor, Ramiro Gonzalez.
Dominick's political survival skills in this predominantly Hispanic suburb are instructive. Loren-Maltese shared her thoughts on how he does it in a 2013 conversation with former Better Government Association President Andy Shaw. Her answer? Old school, Chicago-style politics.
Turnout overall in Tuesday's primaries was predictably underwhelming. Election season never seems to end around these parts, we understand, but voters need to get educated before the April 1 general election and make their voices heard. We'll have endorsements in some of the biggest races next month.
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