Democrats Gave To Elmhurst School Board Hopefuls

ELMHURST, IL – Two candidates for the Elmhurst School District 205 board reported receiving money from a Democratic group.

The deadline for candidates to turn in their quarterly financial reports to the state Board of Elections was Monday.

Candidates Kelly Henry and Kelly Asseff both listed $500 donations in March from the Addison Township Democratic Organization.

They were seen as progressive candidates along with incumbents Courtenae Trautmann and Beth Hosler, all endorsed by the teachers union. They won the four board seats available in the April 4 election.

Trautmann and Hosler did not file reports. That indicates they neither raised nor spent $5,000 or more within a year, the legal threshold for reporting.

Other than the Democrats' donations, candidates reported no other donations from groups, just individuals. Candidates who must file reports are required to name donors who give $150 or more.

Henry and Asseff raised $9,525 and $825, respectively, according to their filings. (Asseff's husband lent $4,000 to the campaign.) Henry was both the top fundraiser and vote getter.

The candidates generally seen as more conservative were Tom Chavez, Linda Nudera, Jammie Esker Schaer and Lan Li.

Chavez and Nudera reported collecting $8,849 and $3,966, respectively. Jammie Schaer filed with the elections board in January, but did not submit a quarterly report, indicating she neither raised nor spent $5,000 this year.

Li and Ben Zulauf, an unaligned candidate, did not file with the elections board.

Candidates are supposed to file reports of donations of $1,000 or more within five days. Within 30 days of an election, such reports must be filed within two days.

Chavez received a contribution of $2,500 from Paul and Angie Martino of Elmhurst on Feb. 20. Chavez did not report the donation until his quarterly filing last week.