Langfelder, Buscher file for mayor's race; at least three wards will be contested

After circulating petitions for the last couple of months, Ward 7 aldermanic candidate Brad Carlson felt that he owed it to people to be first in line Monday to file for the 2023 Springfield municipal election.

Carlson, a Capital Township trustee and a policy analyst with the issues staff of the Illinois Senate Republicans, arrived at Municipal Center West at 5:30 a.m.

"If (voters) are going to give me the confidence to put my name on the ballot, I want to return the favor to show how important the race is to me," said Carlson, who made a bid for the seat in 2019, but lost to incumbent Ald. Joe McMenamin.

The nonpartisan election is April 4. If more than four candidates file for one office, a primary will be held Feb. 28.

Also on the ballot on April 4 are races for District 186 board of education, the Springfield MetropolitanExposition and Auditorium Authority (SMEAA) board, the Springfield Park District trustees and the Lincoln Land Community College trustees. Those offices file from Dec. 12 to Dec. 19.

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City candidates will have until 5 p.m. Nov. 28 to file. All offices serve four-year terms.

Announced candidates for mayor, Jim Langfelder, who will be seeking his third term, and city Treasurer Misty Buscher were both in line by 8 a.m.

A lottery will be held on Dec. 6 to determine whose name goes first on the ballot.

Among other early arrivals Monday were deputy treasurer Colleen Redpath Feger, who is running for treasurer, and her father, Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath. He is seeking a third term in that ward after serving five terms in Ward 4.

Redpath said it was "heartwarming" to see his daughter make her first run at office.

"My family has always been involved in local politics," he said, "and it really makes me feel good to know she's picking up the torch."

Redpath Feger will be pitted against Springfield Park District Trustee Lisa Badger and city budget director Bill McCarty. Both candidates had announced but did not file Monday.

"I've learned from the best," Redpath Feger, referring to her father. "(He taught me) to be humble, to be true myself, that we are doing this to serve the citizens and that we're doing this all for the right reasons

"With that said, I love the treasurer's office. I love what I do, and I want to continue that success."

Langfelder submitted over 1,600 signatures (he needed 252), while Buscher submitted more than 1,000.

Langfelder said it "melancholy, in a way" filing for a third time for the office. If he wins, he will be term-limited.

A third term eluded his father, Ossie Langfelder, who served as mayor from 1987 to 1995.

Accompanying Langfelder Monday was his wife, Billie. Ahead of him in line was his brother-in-law, Ward 4 candidate Larry Rockford and his wife, Jean.

"I think he'll be a great advocate for the north end," Langfelder said. "He's always lived there. He's always boisterous and lets his feelings be known, one way or another."

Langfelder said his office has helped expand economic and community development opportunities through public and private partnership projects like the Springfield Rail consolidation and the Hub Transportation Center, the Fourth Street YMCA, Bicentennial Plaza, the Centre @ 501, CAP 1908 Social Innovation Center, the University of Illinois Springfield's Innovate Springfield and Poplar Place.

City Water, Light and Power, Langfelder said, went from having three days of cash in its Electric Fund when he came into office in 2015 to having over $100 million. Langfelder added there were no furloughs or layoffs of city workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buscher maintained Langfelder hasn't struck the right note for the city.

"I honestly do not feel in the last eight years that the city is in a better place than it was when I took office in 2015," Buscher said. "I was concerned about the future of CWLP, our infrastructure, our lack of economic development, our homelessness situation, our downtown.

"I looked at my husband (Mike) and said, 'The easy thing to do would be to run for (treasurer).' The hard thing to do was to roll the dice and run against an incumbent for mayor because there's a possibility I'm out of a job if I don't win. I either put my money where my mouth is or I sit quietly, run for treasurer and wait and see.

"If anyone knows me, sitting quietly in the background isn't something I'm good at."

Frank Lesko announced by Facebook earlier this month that he will seek a third term as city clerk.

One thing Lesko want to advance is making administrative court files more readily available to the public.

"We're going to put it out there (on the city's website)," Lesko said. "It's a rather large undertaking, but we're going to do so people can sit in the comfort of their homes, click and find out (any violations). It's going to bring a lot more transparency."

Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory, Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr., Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley, Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan and Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer were also among early filers. Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase filed later Monday.

There are at least three contested aldermanic races.

In Ward 6, Daniel Pittman, just off an unsuccessful bid for Sangamon County treasurer, is in, along with Jennifer Notariano, who lost out to Buscher for city treasurer in 2019, and political newcomer Alyssa Haaker.

Pittman is an Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services public service administrator. Haaker, a former Sangamon County assistant state's attorney, is now in private practice as insurance defense attorney while Notariano is a contract specialist with the Illinois Capital Development Board.

The seat is open after Kristin DiCenso announced in August that she would not run again. DiCenso has served in Ward 6 since 2017.

Notariano and Haaker were early filers.

In Ward 4, Rockford, a former city employee, will go up against Jason Ratts.

Rockford recently retired from CWLP and is making his first bid for office. Ratts, a health care worker, served on the Sangamon County board from 2010 to 2021.

That seat opened up when Ald. John Fulgenzi, who also served on the county board previously, announced his retirement.

Bill Eddington will challenge Williams in Ward 3.

Eddington, 59, is a brick mason who took over Eddington Masonry, which has been in the family for over six decades.

This will be Williams' first time running after the president of the board of directors for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good was appointed in March 2021 to take the seat of now State Sen. Doris Turner.

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin is term-limited and cannot run in 2023.

Both Eddington and Williams filed.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Candidates for Springfield municipal election can start filing today