Ballots finalized for Calumet City, Thornton Township April 1 elections
Despite saying in February he was dropping out of the race, Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark is still listed as a candidate for Thornton Township supervisor under the Reform Thornton Township Party, according to final April 1 ballot listing by the Cook County clerk's office.
Clark did not respond to numerous requests for comment on his failure to officially withdraw as a candidate for supervisor. Members of his reform party also on the ballot include trustee candidates David Clay, Dominique Randle-El, Jacinta Gholston and Rachel Jones.
The county clerk's office also confirmed the preliminary results of tight races in Calumet City and Riverdale, which unseated several incumbents.
The clerk's office affirmed Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones' Democratic primary victory over Ald. James Patton, receiving more than 60% of the vote.
Results for other members of Jones' Calumet City Democrats United slate were mixed. Ald. Anthony Smith was unseated by Melissa Philips, who received 273 votes to his 272 votes, according to final results. Smith did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Challengers Erica Jenkins and Roger Munda lost to incumbents Monet Wilson, of the 2nd ward, and DeJuan Gardner, of the 5th ward, who both ran with Patton. Clerk Nyota Figgs, a staunch opponent of Jones, also held onto her seat, challenged by Cassandra Hobert Elston.
First Ward Ald. Michael Navarrette lost his seat to Shalisa Harvey, who gained about 54% of the vote, and Miacole Nelson beat Garnadette Stuckey in the race for Patton's former seat as 6th Ward alderman, according to the Cook County clerk's office.
Calumet City Democrats do not face any challengers in the April 1 election.
In Riverdale, Mayor Lawrence Jackson, under federal indictment, held onto his seat, receiving 59% of the vote. He was challenged by Michael Airhart, a longtime resident who runs the nonprofit organization Taste for the Homeless and will be the only mayoral candidate on the April 1 ballot.
Trustees Gregory Lewis, Erik LeVere and Bradley Smith as well as Village Clerk Karen Holcomb all won their Democratic primaries against challengers.
Smith received 428 votes, Lewis received 422 votes and LeVere received 420 votes. The closest behind them was Pamela Henning, with 404 votes, followed by Michael Smith with 353 votes and Rasheena Thomas with 351 votes.
Rodrick L. Jefferson is the sole independent candidate running for trustee April 1.
State Sen. Napoleon Harris will lead the Democratic ticket in Thornton Township, opposed by Republican Richard Nolan and Independent candidate Nate Fields, according to the Cook County clerk's office.
Incumbent Supervisor Tiffany Henyard can only gain votes as a write-in candidate. Henyard was unable to secure a ballot spot after failing to gain the Democratic nomination for supervisor, with her lawsuit contesting the results of a December caucus dismissed by a Cook County judge.
In a social media post Monday, Henyard encouraged early voting in the township and asked for support as a write-in candidate.
'I am happy to announce that the township is in a surplus and still growing!!' Henyard wrote. 'Support the leadership you know.'
Clark said in a February news release announcing his withdrawal that he would feel wrong taking time from the challenges facing Harvey, including $165 million of debt, 'to engage in the dysfunction that currently plagues Thornton Township — a dysfunction marked by mismanagement and lack of transparency at the leadership level along with a troubling erosion of public civility.'
'I want people in the city of Harvey to know and understand that even in this particular case, I am willing to make that sacrifice for them,' Clark told the Daily Southtown at the time.
The township is guaranteed to see an almost entirely new board, with the only incumbent candidate being Trustee Christopher Gonzalez, who is running as part of Harris' slate. Other Democratic trustee candidates on the ballot are community organizers Valeria Stubbs and Mary Avent as well as Cook County employee Byron D. Stanley.
Republican candidates are Carl V. Dombrowski, David J. Barnes, Jeffery Coleman and Kesha Richardson.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Biden robocall producer found inot guilty of criminal charges
A political consultant was found not guilty of 11 felony charges Friday over AI-generated robocalls that mimicked President Joe Biden's voice discouraging Democrats from voting in the 2024 New Hampshire primary. The charges against Steve Kramer included voter suppression and impersonating a presidential candidate. AG vows to keep working on voter integrity after target found not guilty Attorney General John Formella said his office will keep working on efforts to protect voter integrity after a judge found Steven Kramer not guilty of state felonies for making a robocall that mimicked the voice of former President Joe Biden that urged Democrats not to vote in New Hampshire's 2024 primary. On Feb. 6, he identified two Texas companies and one business owner as having placed those robocalls. After the verdict in Belknap Superior Court, Attorney General John Formella noted that the Federal Communications Commission had already fined Kramer $6 million and two telecommunication companies another $1 million for violations of federal anti-robocall regulations. Kramer had been paid $150 by a political consultant working for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips to produce the audio used to call roughly 25,000 likely voters two days before the Jan. 23, 2024 primary. Judge Elizabeth Leonard allowed Kramer's defense team to claim he didn't commit a crime because New Hampshire's primary was a 'straw poll' as it wasn't sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. 'That, ladies and gentlemen, was a brazen attack on your primary,' Kramer's lawyer Tom Reid told the jury, referring to the DNC's actions. 'And it wasn't done by Steve Kramer. 'He didn't see it as a real election, because it wasn't,' Reid said. Kramer's lawyers also argued the use of deepfake technology was protected speech rather than voter suppression. If convicted, Kramer would have faced decades in prison, with each felony carrying a prison term of up to seven years. He also faced 11 misdemeanor charges that each carried up to a year in jail. Kramer's lawyers argued he didn't impersonate a candidate because the message didn't include Biden's name and the former president wasn't on the primary ballot. Former Democratic Party chair testified at recent robocall trial Former Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan testified in the criminal trial of Steven Kramer who was found innocent of multiple charges regarding his manufacture of a robocall that mimicked the voice of former President Joe Biden to urge New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in the 2024 primary. All of those calls urged anyone with questions to call Sullivan's home telephone number. Biden honored the DNC calendar and refused to file to run or campaign in New Hampshire; he won the primary easily with a record write-in vote. All the calls left the telephone number of former Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan. During the trial, Sullivan testified that her belief was that Kramer's goal was to suppress the vote. Kramer was paid $259,946 by Phillips's campaign to help the long-shot presidential candidate get on the ballot in New York and Pennsylvania. The campaign told media outlets that that work included production and distribution of a robocall that used Phillips's voice. But the Phillips campaign denied any knowledge of the Biden robocall. Kramer testified during the trial that he had no regrets even though his actions led to AI regulations in multiple states including New Hampshire. He said he came up with the stunt as a warning for how AI can be misused. He chose to use it in New Hampshire believing it would have the most impact. In a statement Friday, Formella said the state 'will continue to work diligently to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to protect the integrity of our elections.' klandrigan@
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Reactions to Padilla incident fall mostly along party lines
A day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country's two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident. Padilla's fellow Democrats called for an investigation and perhaps even the resignation of the senator's nemesis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for what they described as the unprecedented manhandling of a U.S. senator who was merely attempting to ask a question of a fellow public official. Noem and fellow Republicans continued to depict Padilla as a grandstander, whose unexpected appearance at Noem's news conference seemed to her security detail to represent a threat, as she tried to speak to reporters at the Federal Building in Westwood. Republicans continued Friday to chastise Padilla, using words like 'launch,' 'lunge' and 'bum rush' to describe Padilla's behavior as he began to try to pose a question to Noem at Thursday's news conference. The Trump administration official was just a few minutes into her meeting with reporters when Padilla moved assertively from the side of the room, grabbing a Times photographer by the arm as he moved to more directly address Noem. He did not lunge at Noem and was still paces away from her when her security detail grabbed the senator. Padilla and his staff described how the veteran lawmaker went through security and was escorted by an FBI employee to the room where the press conference was held, saying it was absurd to suggest he presented a threat. Padilla spoke out after the secretary asserted that her homeland security agents had come to L.A. to 'liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that the governor and the mayor have placed on this country.' The former South Dakota governor would have some reason to recognize Padilla, since he questioned her during her Senate confirmation hearing. A spokesperson at the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a question of whether Noem recognized Padilla when he arrived at her press conference. As has become the norm in the nation's political discourse, Republicans and Democrats spoke about the confrontation Friday as if they had observed two entirely separate incidents. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Noem 'should step down,' adding: 'This is ridiculous. And she continues to lie about this incident. This is wrong.' Lujan urged his Republican colleagues to support Democrats in asking for 'a full investigation.' 'This is bad. This is precedent-setting,' Lujan told MSNBC. 'And I certainly hope that the leadership of the Senate, my Republican leaders, my friends, that they just look within. Pray on it. That's what I told a couple of them last night. Pray on this and do the right thing.' Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus went to Speaker Mike Johnson's office to protest Padilla's treatment. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) spoke out on X and on the floor of the Senate. He said the episode fit into 'a pattern of behavior by the Trump administration. There is simply no justification for this abuse of authority …. There can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees.' Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) went on X to repeat the call for an investigation and to say that 'Republican leadership is complicit in enabling the growing authoritarianism in this country.' Most Republicans remained silent, or accused Padilla of being a provocateur. 'I think the senator's actions, my view is, it was wildly inappropriate,' said Johnson, the House speaker. 'You don't charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.' Johnson added that it was Padilla, who should face some sanction. 'At a minimum … [it] rises to the level of a censure. … I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do, that's not how we're going to act.' Rep. Tom McClintock, (R-Elk Grove) zinged Padilla on X, with some 'helpful tips.' '1. Don't disrupt other people's press conferences. Hold your own instead. 2. Don't bum-rush a podium with no visible identification. ... 3. Don't resist or assault the Secret Service. It won't end well.' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) also sought to reinforce the notion that agents protecting Noem sensed a real threat, having no way of knowing that Padilla was who he said he was. The congressman said on Fox Business that Padilla had obtained 'the outcome that they wanted. Now they have a talking point.' None of the officials in the room, several of whom know Padilla, intervened to prevent the action by the agents, who eventually pushed the senator, face down, onto the ground, before handcuffing him. Noem did not back off her earlier statement that Padilla had 'burst' into the room. 'Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,' Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement Friday. McLaughlin also said that Padilla 'was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands,' though video made public by Friday did not show such warnings, in advance of Padilla's first statement. The senator's staff members said he privately had received messages of concern from several Republican colleagues, including Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) Speaking publicly only one Republican lawmaker sounded a note of distress about the episode. 'I've seen that one clip. It's horrible,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 'It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know.' Padilla told Tommy Vietor of the 'Pod Save America' podcast that Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown is an attempt to distract from many other failures — continued instability with the economy, a lack of peace in Ukraine and Gaza and a federal budget plan that is proving unpopular with many Americans. 'He always finds a distraction,' Padilla said, 'and, when all else fails, he goes back to demonizing and scapegoating immigrants. … He creates a crisis to get us all talking about something else.' Padilla said repeatedly that Americans should be concerned about how everyday citizens will be treated, if forces working for the Trump administration are allowed to 'tackle' a U.S. senator asking questions in a public building. On Friday afternoon, he sent a mass email urging his constituents to sign up for the protests planned for Saturday, to counter the military parade Trump is holding in Washington. 'PLEASE show up and speak out against what is happening,' Padilla wrote. 'We cannot allow the Trump administration to intimidate us into silence.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
DeSantis admin pressures news outlet to stop reporting on fraud allegations
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to the First Amendment is well established: see for example his efforts to roll back legal protections for media outlets and to quash diversity measures at private companies (which earned a colorful condemnation from a federal judge back in 2022). But his administration's latest effort to shut down a news investigation into alleged corruption is uniquely disturbing, even by his standards. The administration is facing criticism from First Amendment advocates over an unsigned cease-and-desist letter from Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) sent last week to the Orlando Sentinel, demanding that the paper and its reporter Jeffrey Schweers stop investigating allegations of fraud related to a community welfare program spearheaded by Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife and potential Republican candidate in next year's gubernatorial race. As NBC News reported: The investigation, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald, centered on what the DeSantis administration did with money from a $67 million settlement with Medicaid contractor ... Desantis administration officials 'directed' $10 million from that pot of money to the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit arm of an organization led by Casey DeSantis, according to records the group had to file as part of its nonprofit status. Of that money, $5 million was then sent to a group aligned with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and another $5 million to a group called Save Our Society from Drugs. Those groups then sent a total of $8.5 million toward a political committee led by [state attorney general James] Uthmeier that was working to defeat the recreational marijuana amendment. It's not clear how much of the $10 million went directly to the PAC. The governor's administration apparently wants the Sentinel to cease its reporting on the matter. The cease-and-desist letter from the Florida DCF accuses Schweers of 'falsely and with malicious intent asserting that the families are implicated in fraudulent activity by accepting financial assistance from Hope Florida Foundation' and claims that Schweers' 'threats and accusations were used as coercion to get the families to make negative statements about Hope Florida.' (The Hope Florida Foundation, as NBC News notes, is the nonprofit arm of the DeSantis' welfare alternative, 'which has a goal to steer Florida residents away from government programs and instead toward services from nonprofits and faith groups,' according to the Tallahassee Democrat.) 'We stand by our stories and reject the state's attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue,' Roger Simmons, the Sentinel's executive editor, told The Associated Press via email, adding that DCF's description of Schweers' reporting was 'completely false.' DeSantis appeared to co-sign the agency's demand in a tweet sharing the letter. 'Bottom feeders gonna bottom feed,' he said. In a reply to the governor's post, Schweers asked why the administration hadn't responded to his public records requests. He's also shared social media posts from people who say he's done nothing untoward and accusing the administration of blatant intimidation tactics. In the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing by Schweers or the Sentinel, it certainly looks like DeSantis is bearing down on the free press to silence a story simply because it might portray his family in a bad light. This article was originally published on
