Candidates To Take Questions At Elmhurst Forum

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst voters will have a chance to hear from candidates in several state and county races when the League of Women Voters of Elmhurst hosts an in-person candidate forum Sept. 13 at Elmhurst City Hall.

The candidates are running in the Nov. 3 election.

The forum will cover these races:

• District 45 state representative (Democrat Marti Deuter and Republican Gina Parrilli) from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• District 23 state senator (Democrat Suzy Glowiak Hilton and Republican Linda Polacek; league says only Hilton RSVP'd) from 1:30 p.m. to 1:33 p.m.
• DuPage County Board chair (Democrat Deb Conroy and Republican Gary Grasso) from 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
• DuPage County treasurer (Democrat Yeena Yoo and Republican Gwen Henry; league says only Yoo RSVP'd) from 2:15 p.m. to 2:18 p.m.
• DuPage County sheriff (Democrat Peter Coolidge and Republican Sean Noonan) from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• DuPage County clerk (Democrat Paula Deacon Garcia and Republican Patricia Kladis-Schiappa) from 3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
• District 1 DuPage County Forest Preserve Board commissioner (Democrat Susan Smentek and Republican Carolyn Ubriaco, both of whom serve on the Elmhurst Park District board and have taken opposite sides of a controversial local issue) from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• District 1 and District 2 DuPage County Board seats (candidates listed below): from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

The league said invitations were extended to all the candidates. It said it received no responses from Republican candidates for state senator, DuPage County treasurer or DuPage County Forest Preserve Board District 2 commissioner.

"As we have traditionally done in previous forums, we extended an invitation to opposing candidates who did RSVP to make a three-minute statement," the league said.

The League of Women Voters of Elmhurst has also invited the public to submit questions for candidates to its email address. The entire forum will be recorded and shared with appropriate leagues to post on their websites.

The league describes itself as a nonpartisan, issue-oriented organization that educates and engages voters but does not endorse candidates.

Information on District 1 and 2 DuPage County Board races:

• District 1: Democrat Michael Childress is facing Republican Eric Poplonski for a four-year seat. The candidates for a two-year term are Democrat Melissa Villanueva and Republican Paula Pezza.
• District 2: Democrat Christopher Espinoza and Republican Rusty Stevens are the candidates for the four-year seat. The candidates for the two-year seat are Democrat Mary Rada Walters and Republican Theresa McClear.