Petition Season Begins: Meet a Candidate for 2026

 Over the weekend I observed some people in yellow safety vests going from door to door in my neighborhood and found two flyers in my mailbox they were handing out. They did actually have clipboards and it is petition collection season - 2026 is an election year.

As you may know State Rep. Nick Smith will not run for another term in Springfield so here's one possible contender for his seat. 

Cleopatra Crowley as you see in the flyer is quoted talking about her daughter Hadiya Pendleton - the one who was shot to death in Bronzeville in 2013. It’s a moving message that underscores her motivation to serve.

I want to add that the people who were working the neighborhood over the weekend also handed out flyers for State Sen. Elgie Sims, who is running for re-election. That flyer will be shared on this blog at a later time.

Does Ms. Cowley have your vote to go to Springfield? Do you know anyone else who's running for the 34th District State Representative? If you do, who has your vote?

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Columbus Day.

Capitol Fax: Rep. Smith won’t run for reelection

Nicholas Smith has been a state representative since 2018 representating District 34 in the Illinois House of Represtatives. Here's the statement posted at CapFax

After much thought and careful consideration, I’ve decided not to seek reelection. Serving as a member of the Illinois General Assembly in the House of Representatives has been an honor of a lifetime. Serving the people of the 34th Representative District and the state of Illinois has been an absolute privilege. As I look forward to the next chapter in my life, I’m confident the next representative of the mighty 34th District will serve with distinction, integrity, and honor.

It was reported that he plans to serve out his term and has no favorite to replace him. I do hope he doesn't leave this process to an appointment denying voters an opportunity to make their choice at the ballot box.

I see comments in that post talking about District 34 map, I will show you an available map of it. 

Brandon Johnson Mayor-elect #ChiMayor23

 

[VIDEO] Well as a casual observer Paul Vallas seemed to be very good on policy issues. Brandon Johnson was said to be a very good talker. 

Johnson had to answer for his comments with regards to "defund police" and Vallas had to answer for being a Republican.

Vallas was the top vote getter on February 28th and it seems polls favored him initially and then it seems Johnson seemed to gain some traction. Now he notes that the outgoing Mayor stated that he couldn't win and guess what he did tonight?

I didn't expect Vallas to concede, perhaps he'd wait for the mail in vote to be counted - it wouldn't have been counted tonight anyway. Of course that means that the numbers would have to justify Vallas holding out for all votes to be counted. And Vallas noting the division in the city, just decided to concede and move forward which is certainly necessary.

Well time to move forward a lot of serious issues that requires serious attention. Here's hoping we solve most of those issues in the next four years.