More than Half of South Suburban Cook County Races Uncontested

We’ve all heard of voter apathy, but candidate apathy?

Of the nearly 1,000 south suburban Cook County contests in the upcoming April 9 election, 64 percent are uncontested, according to Clerk David Orr.  

In Oak Lawn, this includes the

Donald Pratl is running unopposed for the sixth subdistrict seat on the Community Consolidated High School Dist. 218 board. Dist. 218 includes H.L. Richards High School.  

Oak Lawn Community High School Dist. 229 was short one candidate, until two write-in candidates--Stephen Green and Dan Sodaro--declared their intent to run. Five candidates are running for four open seats.

Local races in neighboring Hometown and Evergreen Park are also uncontested, with the exception of Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton, who faces write-in candidate Shawn Good.

Hometown Mayor Kevin Casey thinks the luster of holding local elected office in Illinois has dimmed, especially in the last four years.

"I was talking to Mayor Siegel of Chicago Ridge and he said it's not like it used to be," Casey told Patch. "Who wants to run for local office in a state that's practically broke?"

Casey said he is often approached by residents whose homes have gone into foreclosure, or don't have money to buy groceries.

"People are unemployed and barely hanging on to their houses. It's the state of the area," Casey said. "They're too far deep by the time the come to us. It's not like they want to be where they are."

Here's a breakdown of the contested contests:

APRIL 9, 2013 CONSOLIDATED ELECTION

#contests

#contested

#uncontested

%contested

%uncontested

Townships

133

27

106

20.3%

79.7%

Municipalities

466

198

268

42.5%

57.5%

Elementary districts

138

59

79

42.8%

57.2%

High School districts

33

13

20

39.4%

60.6%

Community college districts

13

11

2

84.6%

15.4%

Park districts

111

29

82

26.1%

73.9%

Library districts

68

17

51

25.0%

75.0%

Fire protection districts

12

2

10

16.7%

83.3%

Township school trustees

18

5

13

27.8%

72.2%

Total Local Races

992

361

631

36.4%

63.6%

(Maps of the contested races can be viewed by clicking on the links above.)