The write-in campaign of David Schaafsma for a seat on the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education came up short as Schaafsma ended up 919 votes behind fourth place finisher Josh Gertz in the battle for the fourth seat in the April 1 School Board election.
The write-in vote count was posted April 16 on the Cook County Clerk’s election results website.
Gertz ran on a slate with Nate Mellman while Schaafsma ran with what became a slate of Fred Arkin, Kathleen Odell and Audrey Williams-Lee. The defeat of Schaafsma was the only defeat in what was otherwise a very successful April 1 election for progressive activists in Oak Park.
According to tallies released April 16, Schaafsma received 4,603 write in votes while Gertz received 5,522 votes. Newcomer Odell led the field with 9,691 votes according to still unofficial returns while Williams-Lee finished second with 9,278 votes and Arkin third with 8,817 votes. Mellman received 5,361 votes, running 461 votes behind his running mate Gertz.
Schaafsma, 72, entered the race as a write-in candidate in what was largely an effort to keep Mellman and Gertz off the School Board after Mellman and Gertz succeeded in knocking candidate Tonia Haigh off the ballot because she did not file a required form with her nominating petitions.
The race was spirited and intense with clear ideological differences between the two slates. Gertz and Mellman questioned some of the policies that OPRF have implemented in recent years such as the Honors for All Freshman curriculum. Gertz, a 37 year old lawyer who lives in Oak Park, will bring some ideological diversity to the OPRF school board.
“I’m excited to make a difference moving forward and to impact policy,” Gertz said after the write-in votes were counted.
Gertz recognizes that he may have a different view on some issues than other board members, but he still hopes to make a difference.
“Even minorities can have a strong impact on policies going forward,” Gertz said. “And I hope that we’re all professionals and do what’s best for the school and the students and the greater community.”
The School Board campaign was intense, and at times, acrimonious, if not among the candidates but among their respective supporters. Mellman, who spearheaded a complaint last year charging three teachers at OPRF with condoning antisemitism, was a lighting rod, while Gertz had a low key and calm presence at campaign forums.
Schaafsma said that he was proud of his campaign and of receiving so many write in votes.
“I would say that 4600 votes is pretty good,” Schaafsma said after the write-in votes were posted.
He knew going into the campaign that running as a write-in put him at a big disadvantage.
“I’m thankful for all the support that I had,” Schaafsma said. “It was great for me to work with a team that I came to appreciate, admire, love. I liked being part of a progressive sweep in the recent elections. I met a lot of wonderful people who I think are committed to progressive causes, a lot of people I admire and I can only wish the elected board the best.”
Schaafsma’s write-in campaign was aided by being part of the coalition slate that he joined with Odell, Williams-Lee and Arkin that was backed by a progressive activists. Schaafsma’s name was on all campaign signs for the slate and on all campaign literature. Campaign literature and social media posts were often accompanied by instructions on how to cast a write in vote for Schaafsma. Supporters also came up with creative ways to teach people how to spell his name.
“We gave it our best try,” Schaafsma said. “We came up with a lot of fun and useful ways of getting people to write in the ballot. There was a song that was created, a rap song.”
Late in the campaign some supporters of Gertz and Mellman called attention to some of Schaafsma’s social media reposts to suggest that he was sympathetic to the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 and even accused Schaafsma, who was once married to a Jewish woman, of being antisemitic. But Schaafsma said that he thought the biggest factor in him coming up 4,000 to 5,000 votes short of his running mates was the difficulty of being a write-in candidate.
“It’s tempting to think that some of the things that were said in the last week might have had a big impact,” Schaafsma said. “But I feel like the biggest obstacle proved to be the downfall of my campaign finally (was) the fact that it was a write-in ballot. It’s almost unprecedented. People told me not to do it, to wait two years.”
A few voters on Election Day did not even know that there was a write-in candidate in the race, and thus didn’t vote for Schaafsma despite voting for his running mates.
Schaafsma, a professor of English Education at University of Illinois Chicago, said that he plans to get more active in OPRF affairs and help his running mates on the School Board.
“I will be active on committees and try to help their cause as much as I can,” Schaafsma said.
He also is thinking about running again for the School Board in two years.
“It’s tempting, I have to say,” Schaafsma said.
Schaafsma said that while he has a few regrets about the campaign overall it was a good experience.
“It got very negative on both sides, but I have to say that on the whole I felt energized by participating in this process especially given what’s going on the national stage which is so discouraging,” Schaafsma said.
And he was gracious in his comments about Gertz.
“I think he’s a good guy and I wish him well,” Schaafsma said. “I feel like when the election is over you don’t do what Trump does which is to begin bashing the people you’ve beaten or the people you think you’ve beaten. You graciously concede and wish that person well and that’s what I’m doing.”
Schaafsma said that, while he wanted to win, he did see some value in what Gertz could bring to the School Board.
“He offers a slightly different perspective and that was what he campaigned on and that’s what people have said about Mellman and Gertz and I think that for those people who thought that we all thought alike and we were joining a board that was pretty much thinking alike, that we were basically rubber stamping whatever the board said, well we have somebody who can possibly also offer alternatives and I think that’s also important in a democracy,” Schaafsma said.
The new board members will likely be sworn in on May 1 after the results become official.
Bob Skolnik is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
