Dems Involved In Hinsdale D86 Race

HINSDALE, IL – Many have suggested the Illinois Democratic Party was involved in the race for the Hinsdale High School District 86 board.

But they lacked evidence – until this week.

The state party has paid for a website to identify its endorsed candidates and those it labels "extremist." It only weighs in for some districts.

In District 86, the Democratic Party labeled candidate Andrew Catton as a candidate who is pursuing an "extremist political agenda." Catton could not be reached for immediate comment.

The party has a designation for each candidate who "shares our values." None of the four other local hopefuls – Asma Akhras, Kay Gallo, Catherine Greenspon and Deborah Willoughby – got that designation.

The Democratic website's introduction reads, "Extremist conservatives are running for local school and library boards. Many of them support harmful measures including banning books, blocking full spectrum sex education, teaching revisionist history and ignoring public health."

The party also mailed a flyer to residents, providing a machine-readable code to link to the website. The mailer itself does not mention any of the local candidates.

These days, Catton focuses on school finances and declining test scores.

But in 2021, he became known locally for asserting that critical race theory was influencing the district's operations.

Critical race theory is a decades-old legal and academic framework that looks at and critiques how race and racism shaped the U.S. laws and institutions that remain in place today.

At the time, Catton never provided any evidence the actual theory was being taught in the classroom. In a recent Patch questionnaire, he said the district did not teach theory.

"I am advocating for the public and district leadership to be informed and aware of this movement and to guard against its migration into D86 classrooms," Catton said. "No one is claiming that CRT texts are being taught now, rather that there is an inherent risk to the quality of curriculum and source documents because of those who have influence over each."

In a Facebook post last year, Catton shared an item calling for families to remove their students from public schools. And he posted a story titled, "Assume Public Schools Sexually Abuse Your Kids Til Proven Otherwise." His Facebook page is no longer publicly accessible.

Catton shared a video from writer Alex Newman called "Public School Exit."

Parents, Newman said, should treat a public school building as if it were on fire. Rather than start a petition or run for school board, parents should rush into the schools and save their children and those of others, he said.

Newman said students are being taught about things like abortion, "gender confusion," "homosexuality" and "fornication." He referred to public school teachers as "the enemy."

School board races are officially nonpartisan. But political parties are not barred from getting involved.