Schaumburg Mayor Larson makes bid for 8th term; Moynihan joins trustee race
Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson formally declared his intentions to seek an eighth term as the village's chief executive Monday, filing nominating petitions at village hall to place his name on the ballot for the April 7 election or a potential February primary.
Candidate filing opened with few surprises Monday for village boards and councils in Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates and Palatine.
Larson, who's served as Schaumburg's mayor since May 1987 and on the village board since 1975, was joined by incumbent trustees Tom Dailly, George Dunham and Mark Madej. Besides Larson, Dunham is the longest-serving member of the village board, having served as a trustee since 1991.
The only non-incumbent to file Monday was Jim Moynihan, who was narrowly defeated earlier this month in his bid to unseat Democratic state Rep. Michelle Mussman in the Illinois General Assembly's 56th House District.
Moynihan said his decision to run was made at the last minute.
"I wanted to find a way to be able to carry on the fight, so to speak, on behalf of taxpayers," Moynihan said. "I've been on a journey to try to help the people of the 56th District, and the core of that district is the village of Schaumburg, and I still want to help those people."
Moynihan said he is in the process of shifting gears from state to local issues.
"I spent a year and a half going door to door talking about issues on the state level," he said. "(The people) know who I am, what I'm about and that I have their best interests at heart."
Village Clerk Marilyn Karr, who's held that office since 2004, said she plans to file her nominating papers Tuesday.
In Hoffman Estates, incumbent trustees Anna Newell, Gary Pilafas and Gary Stanton all filed nominating forms to seek re-election. Because all three filed at the same time, the village will conduct a lottery Nov. 26 to determine the order their names will appear on the ballot.
No other candidates filed Monday in Hoffman Estates.
In Palatine, District 2 council member Scott Lamerand and District 5 council member Kollin Kozlowski both filed petitions to seek re-election. Jim Clegg, the third incumbent whose seat is up for election next year, has not filed.
The filing period opened Monday for these three villages because there is the possibility for a primary election. A primary would occur on Tuesday, Feb. 24, if the number of candidates for a particular office exceeds four times the number of seats available.
The filing period ends at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24. Even if there is no need for a primary, anyone seeking to run for office in one of the communities must file during this period.
The filing period in towns without potential primaries, as well as for school, park district, library and other local government boards, runs from Dec. 15 to Dec. 22.