Meet Jake Leahy; He Could Soon Be Illinois' Youngest Elected Official

BANNOCKBURN, IL — If Jake Leahy wins his uncontested race for a spot on the Bannockburn School District 106 Board of Education, he will be the youngest elected official in the state of Illinois at just 18 years and 18 days old.

Leahy is a senior at Deerfield High School and plans to attend the University of Illinois in the fall before becoming a lawyer.

He noted there is 63 years of combined experience attending school in the district between his five cousins, his brother and himself ("Which is a ton," he said.)

The current vice-president of the district, Julie Soloway, whom Leahy described as a family friend, decided not to seek reelection in order to clear the way for him to serve on the board, he said.

District 106 operates Bannockburn School, a single K-8 school with less than 200 students, but Leahy says his involvement can have an impact beyond its attendance area. He said there are not too many pressing issues in the district, but he hoped to be an example to others of the value of getting involved in local politics.

"What it says to people is that no matter who you are, how old you are, what you do, you can step up and you can run and you can change something positively," he said. "I'd rather not sit back and complain about what's going on in Springfield, I'd rather go there and do something."

Leahy said he has received assurances from the U of I that he will have no conflicts of interest while serving on the District 106 Board.

During the last election cycle, Jake traveled to Grayslake and Deer Park to canvass door to door for Rod Drobinski's campaign for state representative. He said it taught him valuable lessons about loyalty to supporters and listening to voters.

"It's one thing to watch the news to understand what's going on. It's another thing to walk up to a stranger's door and to ask who they're voting for, to ask for their vote on behalf of a candidate, to hear what their problems are and their issues are," he said.

Leahy had considered trying to help run a campaign for school board or another office, but he decided to think about a run himself last year.

"I've always had that in the back of my head that it would be a good idea to have a student, or somebody who recently went there, who understands the school and what's going on," he said. He printed out petition sheets and went house to house to get a feel for the response to his candidacy. "I had no idea whether it was a horrible idea, whether it was a good idea, I didn't know."

Leahy said the response to his canvassing was overwhelmingly positive. Most people were impressed to see someone seeking their vote show up at their front door and want to hear about their problems, he said.

"So I just talked to people. I was surprised, very pleasantly surprised, about how receptive people were. So that's really what made me take the next step to officially run," he said.

Leahy already has some board experience. He currently serves on the principal's student advisory board at DHS and has also served on the board of American Youth in Politics, a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging young people in the political process. Leahy is also a staff writer for Hypeline News, the news outlet of Turning Point USA, and has contributed to Reboot Illinois, WIND 560 and WLS 890.

Leahy said his top priority on the board will be improving communication and engagement with the public. Even small changes to make local government more responsive and transparent are worth pursuing, he said.

"Start at the school board, at a park district board, a village board, stuff like that where people can really have a big impact on what's going on," Leahy suggested.

He emphasized the important of the upcoming election for all voters in suburban Lake and Cook counties: "I mean they say that 75 percent of our property tax values are determined on the ballot April 4. It's such a big part of what happens and how our state operates."

Top photo: Courtesy Jake Leahy