When all was said and done after the April 17 elections, openly gay Oak Park Board of Trustees incumbent Ray Johnson retained his seat. Fellow Citizens for Progressive Action candidates Jan Pate, Jon Hale and John Hedges will join Johnson on the board.
Johnson received 4,810 votes, while Pate and Hale garnered 4,028 and 4,443 votes, respectively. (The top three of the nine candidates won seats.) In the two-year category, Hedges easily won the only open seat over two other candidates, securing 4,690 votes to get over 60 percent over the vote.
However, gay activist Ted Korbos came up just short in his bid to win a seat on the school board of J. Sterling Morton High School District 201.
Korbos ran for the two-year seat against Angelica Guerrero and Jessica Flores. Flores won with 3,455 votes to Korbos' 3,214 votes.
Looking at Chicago, labor unions have spoken—and, in the process, have ended the careers of some long-term aldermen.
Labor support contributed to the victories of at least four aldermanic candidates in the April 17 elections in Chicago—with probably the biggest upset involving Alderman Dorothy Tillman of the 3rd Ward, who, like some of the other upset victims, were backed by Mayor Richard Daley. However, Howard Brookins ྵst Ward) and Bernie Stone ࿒th Ward) fought off challenges to reclaim their seats.
In the 49th Ward, Joe Moore prevailed in an extremely close race, getting 51 percent of the vote. However, supporters of opponent Don Gordon planned to hold a press conference on April 24 to announce a lawsuit citing voter fraud.