Evanston Election Results: Referendum Wins Big, Hagerty Claims Victory

EVANSTON, IL — Preliminary results from Tuesday's consolidated municipal elections in Evanston are in, but some votes remain to be counted. In addition to a Evanston/Skokie District 65 funding referendum, there were competitive races for Mayor, City Clerk, Alderman, school boards for District 65 and District 202. The unofficial results posted below include early vote totals but do not include all mail-in and provisional ballots, according to the Cook County Clerk.

Businessman Steve Hagerty claimed victory in the mayoral race, leading Ald. Mark Tendam by just 159 votes as of Wednesday morning. Tendam has not yet conceded but would likely need to win more than 55 percent of the remaining ballots to overtake the deficit. Evanston voters requested 1,977 mail ballots, and just over 1,000 had been received as of Wednesday afternoon, the County Clerk's office said. The number of outstanding mailed ballots does not necessarily mean there are more than 900 uncounted ballots. Some may not have been mailed in, or the voters to whom they were sent may have decided to vote at a polling place, according to a Cook County Clerk spokesperson.

Current unofficial vote totals do not include outstanding mail-in ballots, and as long as voters had their ballots postmarked April 4 or earlier, their votes will also be included. Representatives from both Evanston mayoral campaigns will be watching as Evanston ballot envelopes are opened and signatures are verified, the County Clerk spokesperson said.

In the race for Evanston City Clerk, incumbent Rodney Greene appeared to have lost his bid for reelection to Devon Reid, who was arrested last November while seeking petitions to get on this very ballot. Greene's wife also unsuccessfully sought to disqualify Reid from the ballot.

Evanston voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to raise $14.5 million for the Evanston/Skokie District 65 by raising property taxes. The vote means property owners will pay, on average $300-500 more a year, while the district, which says it's already cut millions from its budget over recent years, will avoid cuts to teachers and programs.

In competitive races for Alderman, Judy Fiske defeated Lee Cabot in the 1st Ward, Melissa Wynne defeated two Alexes—Morgan and Block—in the 3rd Ward, Robin Rue defeated Carolyn Murray in the 5th Ward in a race featuring ethics complaints, Thomas Suffredin defeated Virginia Mann in a 6th Ward that saw the highest turnout in the city, 8th Ward incumbent Ann Rainey led Rob Bady by 15 votes at last count, while Cicely Fleming defeated C. Shawn Jones by a two to one margin.

For seats on the District 202 school board, Jude Laude, Patricia Maunsell, Gretchen Livingston and Patricia Savage-Williams defeated incumbent Ann Sills and former ETHS teacher Russ Kohnken.

On the District 65 board, incumbents Candace Chow and Suni Kartha retained their seats, while network systems administration Nicholas Korzeniowski was defeated by Joseph Hailpern and Lindsay Cohen for seats being vacated by Tracy Quattrocki and Anya Tanyavutti.

District 65 Referendum

Turnout: 33.07%

• YES - 80.45% 14,927
• NO - 19.55% 3,628

Mayor, City of Evanston

Turnout: 35.74%

• Steve Hagerty, 50.46% 8,744
• Mark Tendam, 49.54% 8,585

Clerk, City of Evanston

Turnout: 35.74%

• Rodney Greene, 33.87% 4,822
• Devon Reid, 66.13% 9,413

1st Ward Alderman

Turnout: 32.82%

• Lee Cabot 44.31% 646
• Judy Fiske 55.69% 812

2nd Ward Alderman

Turnout: 26.76%

• Peter Braithwaite 100% 1,289

3rd Ward Alderman

Turnout: 39.35%

• Alex Morgan 18.83% 468
• Melissa Wynne 50.6% 1,258
• Alex Block 30.57% 760

4th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 34.09%

• Donald Wilson 100% 1,468

5th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 25.02%

• Robin Rue 60.41% 621
• Carolyn Murray 39.59% 407

6th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 50.56%

• Thomas Suffredin 57.55% 1,810
• Virginia Mann 42.42% 1,329

7th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 39.21%

• Eleanor Revelle 100% 1,786

8th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 28.33%

• Ann Rainey 50.51% 743
• Rob Bady 49.49% 728

9th Ward Alderman

Turnout: 38.12%

• Cicely Fleming 66.11% 1,317
• C. Shawn Jones 33.89% 675

Evanston Township High School District 202 Board (Top 4)

Turnout: 33.07%

• Russell Kohnken, 14.47% 7,536
• Patricia Savage-Williams, 15.76% 8,207
• Gretchen Livingston, 18.87% 9,825
• Patricia Maunsell, 17.9% 9,322
• Jude E. Laude, 20.38% 10,612
• Anne M Sills, 12.63% 6,576

Evanston/Skokie District 65 Board (Top 4)

Turnout: 33.07%

• Candance Chow 22.6% 11,226
• Nicholas Korzeniowski 16.36% 8,128
• Lindsay M Cohen 22.23% 11,042
• Sunith Kartha 19.27% 9,572
• Joseph A Hailpern 19.55% 9,710

All results are unofficial.

Turnout Data from Previous Evanston Election

• 2017 - 35.7% turnout, 17,827 ballots cast (out of 49,943 registered voters)
• 2013 - 14.84% turnout, 6,804 ballots cast (Uncontested mayoral race)
• 2009 - 22% turnout, 10,375 ballots cast
• 2005 - 11,831 ballots cast (Cook County Clerk data does not list 2005 Evanston voter registration numbers)