The Lake Forest Caucus leadership got a big victory as its endorsed candidate slate for next April’s municipal election was overwhelmingly approved by the general membership.
At a vote held Oct. 30 at the Gorton Community Center, the Caucus general members ratified the Caucus Committee proposed candidates for mayor, city council and the two public school boards all by massive margins, mostly with at least 90 percent approval.
“I’m proud of the work that the Caucus Committee has conducted over the last few months. We’ve put a lot of effort into evaluating candidates and recommending them to the community,” Caucus President Joe Oriti said.
The 43-member Caucus Committee, after vetting residents seeking for elective office, endorses candidates with the general membership vote often viewed as a formality. With the formal Caucus support, candidates proceed to the general election, often running unopposed.
However, this year’s vote followed a tumultuous two-year period for the Caucus leadership. In 2022, the Caucus Committee’s endorsement of Stanford “Randy” Tack for mayor was not approved by the general membership, but the organization’s bylaws were not clear on how to move forward. The Caucus leadership stuck behind Tack, leading to a contested mayor election in 2023 that he easily won.
Afterward, the Caucus Committee proposed an amendment to the bylaws to take away the general membership vote from the process, but general members (which can be any registered voter in Lake Forest) rejected that last November. Earlier this year, the proposed officer slate for 2024-25 was initially defeated, but later approved in a second vote.
Yet for this election, sustained opposition did not materialize.
Oriti believed the communication with the general membership ahead of the vote including meet-and-greet opportunities and sharing the candidate biographies factored into the approval.
“That was a good thing and appreciated by the community,” he said.
Among the residents who spoke of their support of Caucus included Fred Jackson, the city’s longtime parks director.
“I worked with a lot of good people through the Caucus,” Jackson said after he finished voting. “I always thought the Caucus members had the city’s best interests at heart.”
Another resident saying yes to the Caucus Committee slate was Jane Slover.
“I know a lot of people who have been in various capacities as part of the Caucus I trust their recommendations and the process,” she said.
Caucus members voted on individual candidates led by Tack who is seeking his second two-year term as mayor. He received 823 yes votes with only 95 against.
The four City Council candidates all received at least 96 % of the vote in a group including incumbents Pete Clemens, 1st, John Powers, 2nd and Richard Walthier, 4th. Nick Bothfeld was the endorsed candidate in the third ward as he is set to succeed Ara Goshgarian who is stepping down after serving the customary six years.
At the District 67 school board, incumbent Greg Adamo easily won approval along with newcomers Timo Berger, Jerry Lavin and Lori Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2021 against the Caucus-supported candidates. Yet this time, she received the Caucus Committee backing. She was the only candidate to receive more than 100 no votes by the general membership.
“I don’t see her as being a disrupter or a loud voice,” Oriti said. “I think she will be collaborative and that is the impression she gave me, let alone the other 42 members of the community.”
Finally, at District 115, incumbent Anne Geraghty Helms and newcomer Rob Silvay, who wants to join the high school board, were easily approved.
Traditionally, the seven-member Lake Forest High School board has been split with five Lake Forest residents and two from the Lake Bluff area.
The two current Lake Bluff members are not seeking re-election next year. Paul Blahunka, the chairman of Vote Lake Bluff, the village’s version of a Caucus, said one resident has applied and officials are in discussion with a second possible candidate.
With the slate approved by the general membership, Caucus officials will now start collecting signatures for the nominating ballot in preparation for the start of the Nov. 12 filing period with the Lake County Clerk’s office.
At that time, it would become whether the Caucus-backed candidates would face any independent challenges in next April’s election. Independent challenges to the Caucus slate are rare, but have occasionally materialized.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
