Incumbent Trustees Patty Meroni and Karen Selman, along with newcomer Mary Naumann, have wasted no time in their filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections for the April 2015 Village elections. Their filing occurred on the last day for filing candidate petition packets at Village Hall on December 22nd.
Former Village Trustee Steve Knoop is serving as Committee Chairman. Knoop is no stranger to Village political campaigns, as he played a role in the 2009 campaign to reelect Bob Abboud for a second term, and was involved in the “Dark Sky” fiasco for Barrington Hills leading to the controversial Exterior Lighting Ordinance. He was also mentioned as a political supporter in the Riding Club (Rosene) white paper, which was the subject of another recent editorial (click here to read).
Leslie Coolidge, who ran unsuccessfully to unseat incumbent Peter Roskam in a 2012 campaign for US Congress, was named as the Treasurer for the SOS party.
Despite Coolidge’s position as committee treasurer, however, the first financial disclosure of campaign donations to the SOS party, filed on January 2nd, was submitted by political and election law attorney Laura Jacksack. It appears the SOS party is off to a fast start in amassing their political war chest.
According to their first “A-1” filing (seen here), two residents have already donated over $20,000 to the SOS campaign, and they are:
- Thomas Fitch – $10,500 on December 30, 2014
- Mike Harrington – $10,000 on December 30, 2014
Some readers may question the donation amounts as they relate to limits, but there’s a simple explanation. The SOS candidates filed as a “Political Action Committee” and not as a traditional “Candidate Political Committee.” There’s a distinct difference in campaign contribution limits, essentially doubling one over the other, and those details can be viewed here.
We’ll keep readers updated on all the candidate developments between now and the April 7th, 2015 election.