Center Cass Union-Backed Ticket Prevails: Unofficial Returns

DARIEN, IL – The four union-backed candidates for the Center Cass School District 66 board appeared to have won Tuesday's election.

Those candidates were incumbent Brian Liedtke, Steven Dlugo, Adam Sage and Darren Spiegel. They each got between 19.9 percent and 21.3 percent of the vote.

The losing candidate was Ashley Harris, who received 18.5 percent.

The four winners ran as a team, calling themselves "Dads for Education."

The teachers union, the Center Cass Education Association, announced its endorsements in late March. That was a couple of weeks after it held a candidate forum, which Harris did not attend because of a family health issue.

In 2022, the union largely financed the campaign for a major property tax increase. Voters passed the measure by a hair.

In its endorsement of the candidates, the union said the district has made a turnaround since its "dire financial crisis," which led to program cuts, understaffing, declining buildings, failing systems and the prospect of a state takeover.

"Center Cass 66 is again a great place to learn, a district that parents want to move their families to and a district where teachers want to come and have a career," the union said.

It said the "Dads of Education" ticket was ready to get to work to ensure that the district's best days are yet to come.