At least 10 DuPage suburbs to have contested mayoral elections
Mayoral races are heating up across DuPage County after a last-minute rush of candidates joined election contests before the deadline Monday to place their names on the April ballot.
The competition is fierce, with challengers stepping up to take on incumbent mayors in Addison, Lisle, Warrenville and West Chicago.
Voters also will have choices for the top elected post in Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Roselle and Oakbrook Terrace after their leaders decided to bow out of municipal government.
At least 10 DuPage towns will have contested races for mayor or village president.
Here's a look at who's running in some of the most closely watched races:
Elmhurst
Three aldermen - Michael Bram, Scott Levin and Mark Mulliner - are vying to become the city's next mayor. Steve Morley is stepping down after his second term.
In the city's 1st Ward, Jennifer Veremis, Susan Smentek and Kevin Flanagan are jockeying for a 2-year aldermanic seat while incumbent Alderman Martha "Marti" Deuter is seeking reelection.
Veremis was appointed to her city council seat in July.
The race for the Ward 2 aldermanic seat is a two-way contest between incumbent Jacob Hill and challenger Tristan Dacre.
Nektarious Arvanitis, Christopher Jensen and Alan Quarrie are running to represent Ward 3.
The most competitive city council race is in Ward 6, where Yeena Yoo, Emily Bastedo, Peter Dabertin and Peter Ahern are pursuing an open seat.
Glen Ellyn
Candidate filing brought a political twist that set the stage for a contested village board race.
As expected, sitting Trustee Mark Senak and former Trustee Pete Ladesic are running for village president. Senak received the endorsement of the village's Civic Betterment Party, while Ladesic is campaigning outside the system that has produced a slate of candidates for elected office in the village since the 1930s.
The party's nominees for the trustee slots are incumbent Gary Fasules, Kelley Kalinich and Anne Gould.
As of Monday morning, a fourth trustee candidate, Jeremy Boynton, had filed nominating petitions without the party's backing, further bucking the status quo in Glen Ellyn.
Three trustee seats are up for election April 6.
Lisle
Two sitting trustees have launched bids to take on incumbent Mayor Christopher Pecak in April.
Pecak is leading a slate of candidates called "Lisle First."
Mayoral candidate Sara Sadat is running on an opposing slate, "Be Lisle." Her trustee term doesn't expire until 2023.
The third contender, Steve Winz, filed candidate paperwork Monday to challenge Pecak. Winz, who was elected to the board last year, is mounting an independent bid and already touting an endorsement from county board member Liz Chaplin.
Filing ended with seven candidates for three available trustee seats.
Marie Hasse is seeking reelection. Robert Taylor also submitted petitions Monday to run as an independent.
Rounding out the "Be Lisle" slate are trustee hopefuls Thomas Duffy, Mary Jo Mullen and David Richter.
Joining Pecak on the "Lisle First" slate are two trustee candidates, William Trussell and Dan Grecco.
Oakbrook Terrace
Acting Mayor Paul Esposito is seeking a full term in office. Esposito was appointed in January 2020 after the resignation of former Mayor Tony Ragucci, who stepped down in the wake of revelations that federal agents had seized $60,000 in cash from his home in 2019.
Esposito previously served as an alderman starting in 2013.
His opponent is Arnulfo Rufo A. Noble, Jr., who ran against Ragucci in 2017.
Roselle
The mayoral field features David Pileski, Wayne Domke and Pete Pellegrino. Pileski and Domke are now trustees.
Running for the three open trustee positions are Thomas Piorkowski, incumbent Barbara Sarno, Cheryl Lenisa, Lydia Galante and Thomas Della Penna.
Mayor Andy Maglio announced earlier this month that he would step aside for new leaders to shape Roselle.
Elsewhere
Addison Mayor Rich Veenstra is facing a challenge from Maria Sinkule, the Addison Public Library board president. Veenstra was first elected in 2013, and Sinkule was elected as a library trustee in 2017.
In West Chicago, incumbent Mayor Ruben Pineda won't have a clear path to reelection. Real estate agent Daniel Czuba made his mayoral campaign official Monday.
David Brummel will face political adversary Michael Hoffmann for the mayor's post in Warrenville.
A former alderman, Hoffmann tried to unseat Brummel in 2013 and again in 2017. Brummel is seeking a fifth term.