Newcomers A. Rupa Datta-Nemana and Holly Spurlock will likely join incumbents Jim O’Connor and Robert Spatz on the Oak Park Elementary District 97 School Board
Newcomers A. Rupa Datta-Nemana and Holly Spurlock will likely join incumbents Jim O’Connor and Robert Spatz on the Oak Park Elementary District 97 School Board.
According to preliminary results with all 38 precincts reporting late April 7, Datta-Nemana led the field with 19 percent of the vote. Datta-Nemana did not return calls requesting comment Tuesday evening.
Though Datta-Nemana, O’Connor and Spatz were locks fairly early as the precincts reported their results, it was unclear until late whether Spurlock or Marcus Croom would take the fourth seat. Spurlock and Croom finished with 10 and 9 percent of the vote, respectively.
“I think it’s been a truly educational experience. The other candidates have been awesome and the voters have been awesome,” Spurlock said.
Though he lost, Croom said he had no regrets, saying he ran the best race he could, given his limited resources, which included relying heavily on social media, such as Facebook.
“I am so excited that we have such engaged residents in Oak Park who care about our schools and ultimately our students,” he said.
Croom, who awaited the results at Papaspiro’s, said he wasn’t certain whether he would run for public office again.
“I really came to this with the mindset that this was an opportunity to offer service, not necessarily as a career move,” he said.
District 97 Board President Spatz said he’d predicted he’d wind up in third place. He ended up with 15 percent of the vote.
“It’s a very solid lead, third place, which is all I need,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to come in first and bury the opponent. I was trying to run a good race and get re-elected.”
Spatz, who ran unsuccessful races before winning, said the large field of candidates and expected low turnout made him nervous enough that he spent Monday and Tuesday handing out campaign brochures. Of 34,604 registered voters, only 14 percent cast ballots for the school board race.
“I certainly wasn’t assuming I would win,” he said.
O’Connor, who earned his second term on the board, came in second with 18 percent of the vote.
“We take this seriously because the community takes children seriously,” he said.
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Rebecca R. Bibbs is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.