Despite saying in February he was dropping out of the race, Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark is still listed as a candidate for Thornton Township supervisor under the Reform Thornton Township Party, according to final April 1 ballot listing by the Cook County clerk’s office.
Clark did not respond to numerous requests for comment on his failure to officially withdraw as a candidate for supervisor. Members of his reform party also on the ballot include trustee candidates David Clay, Dominique Randle-El, Jacinta Gholston and Rachel Jones.
The county clerk’s office also confirmed the preliminary results of tight races in Calumet City and Riverdale, which unseated several incumbents.
Calumet City
The clerk’s office affirmed Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones’ Democratic primary victory over Ald. James Patton, receiving more than 60% of the vote.
Results for other members of Jones’ Calumet City Democrats United slate were mixed. Ald. Anthony Smith was unseated by Melissa Philips, who received 273 votes to his 272 votes, according to final results. Smith did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Challengers Erica Jenkins and Roger Munda lost to incumbents Monet Wilson, of the 2nd ward, and DeJuan Gardner, of the 5th ward, who both ran with Patton. Clerk Nyota Figgs, a staunch opponent of Jones, also held onto her seat, challenged by Cassandra Hobert Elston.
First Ward Ald. Michael Navarrette lost his seat to Shalisa Harvey, who gained about 54% of the vote, and Miacole Nelson beat Garnadette Stuckey in the race for Patton’s former seat as 6th Ward alderman, according to the Cook County clerk’s office.
Calumet City Democrats do not face any challengers in the April 1 election.
Riverdale
In Riverdale, Mayor Lawrence Jackson, under federal indictment, held onto his seat, receiving 59% of the vote. He was challenged by Michael Airhart, a longtime resident who runs the nonprofit organization Taste for the Homeless and will be the only mayoral candidate on the April 1 ballot.
Trustees Gregory Lewis, Erik LeVere and Bradley Smith as well as Village Clerk Karen Holcomb all won their Democratic primaries against challengers.
Smith received 428 votes, Lewis received 422 votes and LeVere received 420 votes. The closest behind them was Pamela Henning, with 404 votes, followed by Michael Smith with 353 votes and Rasheena Thomas with 351 votes.
Rodrick L. Jefferson is the sole independent candidate running for trustee April 1.
Thornton Township
State Sen. Napoleon Harris will lead the Democratic ticket in Thornton Township, opposed by Republican Richard Nolan and Independent candidate Nate Fields, according to the Cook County clerk’s office.
Incumbent Supervisor Tiffany Henyard can only gain votes as a write-in candidate. Henyard was unable to secure a ballot spot after failing to gain the Democratic nomination for supervisor, with her lawsuit contesting the results of a December caucus dismissed by a Cook County judge.
In a social media post Monday, Henyard encouraged early voting in the township and asked for support as a write-in candidate.
“I am happy to announce that the township is in a surplus and still growing!!” Henyard wrote. “Support the leadership you know.”
Clark said in a February news release announcing his withdrawal that he would feel wrong taking time from the challenges facing Harvey, including $165 million of debt, “to engage in the dysfunction that currently plagues Thornton Township — a dysfunction marked by mismanagement and lack of transparency at the leadership level along with a troubling erosion of public civility.”
“I want people in the city of Harvey to know and understand that even in this particular case, I am willing to make that sacrifice for them,” Clark told the Daily Southtown at the time.
The township is guaranteed to see an almost entirely new board, with the only incumbent candidate being Trustee Christopher Gonzalez, who is running as part of Harris’ slate. Other Democratic trustee candidates on the ballot are community organizers Valeria Stubbs and Mary Avent as well as Cook County employee Byron D. Stanley.
Republican candidates are Carl V. Dombrowski, David J. Barnes, Jeffery Coleman and Kesha Richardson.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
