District 230 Incumbents File For April Election

TINLEY PARK, IL — Candidate filing to run in school board elections in the upcoming April 2021 Consolidated Election opened Monday, with 532 candidates filing to run for school boards across Cook County. The candidate filing period ends Monday, Dec. 21.

School board candidates brought their nomination petitions on Monday to the Cook County Clerk's office in downtown Chicago, the Elections Operations Center in Cicero and filing centers in Orland Park and Mt. Prospect.

With four seats open on the Consolidated High School District 230 school board, four candidates filed on Monday. Incumbents Tony Serratore, Melissa Gracias, Susan Dalton and Kate Murphy-Peterson filed their nominating petitions.

All incumbents were initially elected in 2013, according to the district's website. Serratore is the district's board president. Gracias, is the vice president, Dalton is the secretary and Peterson is a board member. The D230 school board represent all schools within the district, which are Carl Sandburg, Victor J. Andrew and Amos Alonzo Stagg high schools.

The Orland Park Civic Center saw the most traffic with 218 candidates submitting their paper work on Monday, followed by Mt. Prospect (140), Cicero (70) and the Cook County Clerk's downtown office (54). A list of candidates who filed paperwork to run in April 2021 can be found on the Cook County Clerk's website.

From Dec. 15 to Dec.18, and Monday Dec. 21, school board candidates' paperwork can only be filed at the clerk's office in downtown Chicago at 69 W. Washington St., 5th floor, or the Cicero Elections Operations Center, 1330 S. 54th Ave., Cicero. Historically, most candidates, as they are running for suburban school district seats, file at the suburban locations.

"It is very exciting to see so many people actively participating in the democratic process in their local communities," Cook County Clerk Karen A. Yarbrough said in a news release. "These elections are often overlooked although they have the most impact on our day-to-day lives."

All candidates who were in line by 8 a.m. on Dec. 14 had their papers stamped with that time. If more than one candidate seeking the same office filed at 8 a.m., a lottery will be conducted to determine whose name will appear first on the ballot. Candidates for the same office who file between 4 and 5 p.m. on Dec. 21, the last day of filing, will also be included in a ballot lottery for the last spot on the ballot. Anyone who filed between 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 14 and 3:59 p.m. on Dec. 21 will be on the ballot in the order they turned in their nomination paperwork.

Candidates for other local jurisdictions, such as municipalities and municipal park and library boards, file with the district in which they are seeking election.

The Cook County Officers' Electoral Board, which is chaired by the clerk's designee and includes representatives from the State's Attorney and Circuit Court Clerk, oversees objections to school board candidates, in addition to hearing objections to library, police, fire and sanitary district candidacies. Municipal electoral boards hear objections to candidates for suburban municipal offices.

Candidates for other local jurisdictions, such as municipalities and municipal park and library boards, file with the district in which they are seeking election.