Tuesday’s elections appeared to deal a blow to conservatives in the south and southwest suburbs and throughout Illinois.
Progressives seemed to gain ground almost everywhere, particularly in Chicago, where educator Brandon Johnson beat Paul Vallas for mayor.
Voters dealt defeats to two of the Southland’s high-profile conservative firebrands. Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, who has appeared several times on Fox News, wanted to change the village’s form of government to give the mayor’s office more authority.
Orland Park voters, however, soundly rejected the power grab. The electorate decided by a 2-1 margin to keep the village manager form of government, unofficial results indicated.
County clerks have until April 25 to canvass results. That allows time to process mail-in ballots and other votes. More than 57,000 people voted early in suburban Cook for the April 4 consolidated election, according to the county clerk’s office.
One contest seemed to test the influence of Steve Balich, Republican leader of the Will County Board. Balich built his reputation as a tea party activist back in 2010 and won election as Homer Township supervisor in 2021.
Balich endeared himself to the anti-woke crowd that despises high taxes, big government and burdensome regulation. But last year he rubbed locals the wrong way when he supported plans for a senior housing development on township-owned land designated as open space.
Homer Township and Homer Glen residents love their open spaces and huge residential lots. Balich drew the ire of open space advocates after the township board voted to sell two farms that were purchased with public funds with the intent they be preserved as open space.
Balich’s unpopular moves may have hurt the political aspirations of his son, Steven J. Balich III. The younger Balich ran for Homer Township Library Board Tuesday and finished dead last in a field of eight candidates seeking four seats.
He got less than 10% of the vote, according to unofficial results posted by the Will County clerk’s office. Four incumbents appeared to hold their seats, with each receiving about 15% of the vote.
We The Parents Illinois, a group that states it stands for fiscal responsibility, restoring high academic standards, providing safe learning environments and protecting the classroom from “woke” and political ideology, endorsed Balich and three other challengers who also lost.
Lemont was another town where anti-woke activists failed to make inroads, Tuesday’s results would seem to indicate.
Incumbents Gary D. Gray, Pamela Driscoll, Beverly Markiewicz-Marzec and Renee Koehler each got about 15% of the vote and soundly defeated challengers Edward J. McManus, Noal Staubus, Lisa Buczyna and Jody Benson, who each got about 10%.
Conservative radio station WIND-AM 560 “The Answer” endorsed McManus.
Back in 2021, I praised Lemont school board members for voting unanimously to retire the Indians nickname and mascot. The decision angered some in the community, but Tuesday’s results seemed to prove the anti-woke mob is in the minority in Lemont.
Lockport stood out as an exception where conservatives seemed to score a victory in the Southland. Sandra Chimon Rogers and Martin Boersma appeared to win seats on the Lockport High School District 205 Board.
We The Parents Illinois endorsed the two. The group also endorsed candidates in Homer School District 33C, but those hopefuls fell short. Conservative candidates also lost bids for seats on the Lincoln-Way High School District 210 Board.
Conservatives who targeted school and library boards in this week’s election appeared to copy a playbook that worked well once, in 2010. That was the year of the tea party and two years after Barack Obama won the presidency.
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That was also the year of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision, which paved the way for a flood of dark money to enter politics. The elite rich hatched a scheme to win state legislative races across the country. That gave them power to gerrymander maps when district lines were redrawn after the 2010 census.
Republicans picked up 63 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives that fall. It was a red wave that Obama called a “shellacking.” The GOP hoped to duplicate the feat after the 2020 census, but the red wave was more like a trickle.
Similarly, wealthy donors pumped money into We The Parents Illinois’ efforts to gain footholds in suburban contests this election. However, Democrats seemed to have stymied the move.
“Backed by the bully pulpit and bank account of billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state Democratic Party is wading into school and library board races in an unprecedented way this year, with a plan to spend nearly $300,000 supporting 84 candidates and opposing 74 across 17 counties,” the baiduhai reported.
Tuesday felt like a big win for Democrats and democracy, not just in the suburbs and not just in Illinois. Conservatives lost school board races in Quincy and other red areas. A liberal won a consequential race that will give the left a 4-3 majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
“The extremists got trounced yesterday,” Pritzker told reporters Wednesday at an event in Champaign.
Criminal charges against former President Donald Trump cannot possibly improve chances of Republicans winning elections anytime soon. Tuesday’s results felt like more evidence of a seismic shift in American politics.
The old playbook of using hate and division to fire up the base is dead. Maybe the multibillion dollar defamation lawsuits against Fox News have something to do with it. Counter protesters ran U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene out of town Tuesday when she tried to defend Trump in Manhattan.
People want change. They want access to a full range of reproductive health care choices. They wanted assault weapons banned and universal background checks required.
They want to respect rights of people who are transgender. They’re not afraid of drag show story times at libraries. They don’t believe it when Republicans call Democrats pedophiles. They don’t care about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
They’re sick of Trump and chaos. They want fair wages, a stable economy and the chance to live a good life. This is all so obvious except, apparently, to Republican Party strategists.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.