State Sen. Napoleon Harris and members of his Democratic slate were far ahead of other candidates seeking positions on the Thornton Township Board, according to unofficial results Tuesday from the Cook County clerk’s office.
With 101 of 104 precincts reporting, Harris had 74%, followed by Independent candidate Nate Fields with 10.8%, Republican Richard Nolan with 10.4% and Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark with 4.6%.
Whoever is elected supervisor will be responsible for providing social services and organizing events within Thornton Township’s 17 municipalities.
Incumbent Supervisor Tiffany Henyard was not listed on the ballot though was attempting a write-in campaign. Henyard faced legal and voter approval challenges both in her township race and in Dolton, where she is mayor.
Harris beat out Henyard for the Democratic nomination during the party’s caucus in December, which he organized and presided over as committeeman for the Thornton Township Democrats.
Henyard has continued seeking support in the supervisor race through social media, encouraging township residents to write her name in as supervisor in videos on Facebook. Henyard evaded questions from reporters who approached her after she voted at Diekman School Tuesday afternoon.
Trustee candidates on Harris’ Democratic slate include incumbent Trustee Christopher Gonzalez, seeking reelection, as well as Mary Avent, Valeria Stubbs and Byron Stanley. According to unofficial results, all four were leading Tuesday evening. Stanley had 10,437 votes, Gonzalez had 10,316 and Avent and Stubbs both had 10,152.
Harris also aligned himself with Casey Nesbit, running unopposed for township clerk, Cassandra Holbert Elston, uncontested reelection as assessor without an opponent, and Antwon Russell, challenged by Republican Tim DeYoung for highway commissioner.
DeYoung is part of a larger Republican slate led by Nolan, who hoped to capitalize on many residents’ disillusionment with Henyard, a Democrat. Trustee candidates were Carl V. Dombrowski, who had 2,084 votes Tuesday night, Kesha Richardson with 1,987 votes, Jeffrey Coleman with 1,915 votes and David J. Barnes with 1,846 votes.
Walking out of Dolton’s Diekman Elementary School polling location Tuesday afternoon, Kieanji Williams said she voted for “anybody but a Democrat.”
“Historically, Black people vote for Democrats just because they think that these people made us free,” Williams, 27, said. “I think we need a little bit more change in our voting behavior so it’s not like free votes, like they already know that they got us in the bag.”
According to data from the federal Census Bureau, of Thornton Township’s nearly 158,000 population, about 70% are Black, 15% are Hispanic or Latino, and 14% are white.
The third slate of candidates, filed under the Reform Thornton Township Party, was led by Harvey Mayor Clark. Clark announced in February they were withdrawing from the race but their names still appeared on the ballot.
Others on Clark’s slate were trustee candidates Dominique Randle-El, who had 1,350 votes Tuesday, David Clay with 1,031 votes, Jacinta J. Gholston with 945 votes and Rachel Jones with 547 votes. Randle-El is Harvey’s 5th Ward alderman.
Clark did not respond to questions about why his name was not removed form the ballot. Avent, on the Democratic ticket, said Tuesday it was “a snake move” on his part.
“It splits the vote,” Avent said outside of the Diekman School polling place. “I think that was done intentionally.”
Independent candidate Fields returned to the ballot in January thanks to a Cook County circuit court ruling. He was previously removed by the township electoral board for failing to bind his statement of candidacy with his nomination petitions.
Henyard was appointed supervisor in March 2022 by the board and nominated by her now outspoken opponent, Trustee Gonzalez, shortly after the death of longtime Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli.
Federal investigators have since subpoenaed Dolton, Thornton Township and Thornton Township District 205 for financial information and other records related to Henyard. Dolton credit card records show tens of thousands of dollars of spending by village officials including last year alone, much of it related to travel.
Misspending and lack of transparency were chief concerns among Henyard’s critics on the board of trustees and residents who have frequently overflowed the township hall for board meetings.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
