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Naperville council race features 8 candidates for 4 seats

There are twice as many candidates as available seats on the Naperville City Council, but there won't be a primary before the April 4 election.

Three candidates came forward within the last hour as the filing period closed at 5 p.m. Monday, joining a race that already included five who filed at 8 a.m. Nov. 21.

Incumbent Kevin Gallaher and challengers Mike Strick and Benjamin White will be entered into a Dec. 5 lottery to choose whose name will appear last on the ballot. Also scheduled to take place that day is a lottery to determine whose name will appear first among candidates Julie Berkowicz, Judith Brodhead, Kevin Coyne, Mike Isaac and John Krummen, all of whom filed last week.

The race has eight people seeking four seats, but it would have taken 17 to require a primary.

Newly filed candidates all say they have something to offer the panel that makes decisions for the city, be it expertise in development, small business management or leadership and service.

Gallaher, 53, is an attorney serving on the council for the second time. He said the group has made good progress in retail and commercial development during the past two years and he wants to help that momentum continue by further streamlining city processes.

Strick, 54, is a business owner who said he feels buoyed by his recent showing in the 84th state House race against incumbent Democrat Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego. Strick said he got nearly 40 percent of the vote and now wants to help Naperville residents with the same measures he was proposing at the state level - a property tax freeze and assistance for small businesses.

White, 52, is a career military officer with a passion for leadership and service who wants to apply those skills at the city level now that his kids have graduated from the school district for which he is a board member, Indian Prairie Unit District 204.

"I can offer viewpoints and add to the diversity of the council with my background and my experience," White said.

Each of the four candidates elected will earn a four-year term.

Five candidates file fast for 4 Naperville council seats

  Mike Strick reviews his paperwork before filing to seek a seat on the Naperville City Council in the April 4 election. Strick is among eight candidates for four seats on the panel. Marie Wilson/mwilson@dailyherald.com
  Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school board member Benny White files nominating petitions Monday afternoon to seek a seat on the Naperville City Council. White was the last of eight candidates to file for a spot on the April 4 ballot seeking one of four available seats. Marie Wilson/mwilson@dailyherald.com
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