Conservative group appears to take two seats in Lockport District 205, falls short in Lincoln-Way District 210

Conservative groups supporting parents for school boards in Will County projected to have two candidates elected to the Lockport High School District 205 Board and fell short in Lincoln-Way District 210, but had some successes in the elementary school districts.

Lockport District 205 Board incumbent Veronica Tylka-Shaw had 15.4% of the vote, while Sandra Chimon Rogers had 14.4% and Martin Boersma had 13.8% for three seats on the board, according to preliminary Will County election results.

Chimon Rogers and Boersma were two of three candidates endorsed by We The Parents Illinois. The group, that states it stands for fiscal responsibility, restoring high academic standards, providing safe learning environments and protecting the classroom from “woke” and political ideology, also supported Michael Clausen.

“I’m just extremely excited to continue the work we’ve done,” Tylka-Shaw said. “It’s going to be good to get new ideas and work with the board on our common goal which is student success.”

The District 205 teacher union endorsed Tylka-Shaw, Sheri Boniecki-Cooling, who received 13.1% of the vote, and Lance Thies, who had 11.9%. The remaining candidates in the District 205 race are incumbent Michael Lewandowski, who had 12.7% of the vote and Nicholas Paris, who had 5.9% of the vote.

Chimon Rogers said Tuesday night that she’s ready to get started on the board.

“I look forward to working with the school board to provide students ample opportunity for their journeys,” Chimon Rogers said.

The canvass of the votes takes place April 25, according to the Will County clerk’s office.

Linsey Sowa, the former township clerk, said she voted because she did not support candidates backed by We The Parents Illinois.

“There is a group of folks running that I don’t support so no question I had to vote for the other group,” Sowa said.

Sowa said she voted for the incumbent District 205 candidates because she’s pleased with the direction the high school is headed.

Larry Wiora, a Lockport resident, said he voted for the We The Parents Illinois candidates for District 205 Board, Homer Glen 33C Board and Homer library after receiving a sample ballot in the mail from the local Republican Party.

He said he didn’t research the candidates, but voted along Republican Party lines.

“My dad always said ‘If you don’t vote, you don’t live here. If you don’t vote Democratic, you don’t live here either.’ But that party has changed,” Wiora said.

Craig Nelson, a Lockport resident, said he voted for candidates not affiliated with We The Parents Illinois because he does not support their mission.

“I heard there is a fight on the local school board and I wanted to make sure the good guys win,” Nelson said.

Mike Davidson, a Lockport resident, said he came out to vote for “people that I knew have my kind of values” but would not state who.

“I think we’ve dichotomized. We’re at pretty extreme ends. When you reach that point, it’s a lot more important to vote,” Davidson said. “If you don’t vote, you don’t get the right to complain. Everyone likes to complain, so they should vote.”

Lincoln-Way District 210

In the race for four seats on the Lincoln-Way District 210 Board, the Lincoln-Way Education Association teachers union supported incumbent Richard LaCien Jr., Caitlin Olejnik, Catherine Johnson and Dana Bergthold.

The union backed-slate led the vote Tuesday after Johnson received 14.7% of the vote, Olejnik 12.3% of the vote and Bergthold with 11.5% and LaCien with 10.2% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Nathan Sandoval reported the fourth highest number of votes, with 11.4% of the vote. But state statute dictates one candidate in District 210 has to be from an unincorporated area, according to Will County clerk spokesman Chuck Pelkie.

Under state statute, the fourth seat goes to LeCein, said Kevin McCleish, co-chair of the union’s political action committee.

The Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition, which aimed to send conservative candidates to all levels of government, endorsed Sandoval, David Collins, who received about 10% of the vote, Gena Sambo, who had 7.9% of the vote and Katarzyna “Kasia” Topor, who had 6.3%.

The other two candidates running are Mark Bamman, who had 7.4% of the vote and Tessa Quinlan, at 8.2%.

Homer Glen 33C

In the Homer School District 33C race, incumbents Elizabeth Hitzeman, Christopher Trzeciak and Debra Martin led in votes for three seats Tuesday night.

Hitzeman had 21% of the vote, Martin 20.6% and Trzeciak reported 18.6%, according to unofficial Will County results. Trailing them were We The Parents Illinois endorsed candidates Lawrence Vacala at 12.9%, Nicholas Kolliniatis at 14.2% and David Ondyak with 12.7%.

Frankfort 157-C

In the race for Frankfort Elementary District 157-C Board, where voters selected four candidates, one of the The Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition endorsed candidates and incumbent Edith Lutz received the most votes in the race with 15.9%, according to preliminary results.

The Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition endorsed Lutz but she did not appear in videos posted to the group’s Facebook page like other candidates.

Incumbent Larry Kociolek received 15.5% of the vote, Brian Skibinski received 14.2% of the vote and Francesco D’Avola received 11.2%, according to preliminary results.

The other three The Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition backed candidates were Nicole Queen, who received 8.1% of the vote, Jeffrey Tarala, who received 7.9%, and Peter Guse, with 7.5%.

The remaining two candidates were Michael Casey and Jennifer Hindel.

New Lenox District 122

For New Lenox Elementary District 122 Board, where incumbent William Pender was the only candidate seeking reelection, voters selected three of eight candidates.

Pender received the most votes with 18.1% followed by Nicole DeGrave with 16.8% of the vote and Stephanie Peltzer with 14.6% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

Mary Lambert, a member of the Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition slate in this race, received the fourth highest number of votes with 14.1%. Her slate running mates Adelheid Connolly and Jeanine Kozlowski each got 10.9% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

The remaining two candidates on the ballot were Samantha Jean Gasca, who received 8.1% of the vote, and Ignacio Rojas Jr., who received 6.6%.

Lockport District 91

In the race for Lockport Elementary District 91, Joselyn Cutforth, who was endorsed by We The Parents Illinois, was elected to the board, according to unofficial results. Voters were asked to vote for three candidates in this race.

Incumbent Courtney Oxley-Turner received 27% of the vote, Michael T. Arvidson received 23.8% and Cutforth received 17.9%.

The remaining two candidates, Bill Passaglia and John O’Lear, were endorsed by We The Parents Illinois. Passaglia received 15.2% and O’Lear received 16% of the vote.

Mokena District 159

Two Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition endorsed candidates led in District 159, according to unofficial results, where voters had to select three candidates.

Julie Oost received 20.2% of the vote, coalition endorsed candidates Kelli MacMillan received 19.9%, and Samantha Tunney received 19.4% of the vote.

The final coalition candidate, Michele Coleman, received 13.6% of the vote. Remaining candidates were Thomas Freyer, with 17.1% of the vote, and Amanda Montgomery, with 9.8%.

Summit Hill District 161

In the race for Summit Hill School District 161, four candidates ran for three seats, and Lincoln-Way Area Freedom Coalition endorsed three candidates. None of the incumbent board members ran for reelection.

The unofficial vote totals reported that John Winter received 25.06% of the vote, Matthew Carey received 24.4% of the vote, Joy Murphy received 24.2% of the vote and Ronnie Petrey received 21.5% of the vote.

Winter, Carey and Petrey were endorsed by the Lincoln Way Area Freedom Coalition.