Slates set for special Council elections in 2nd and 9th wards

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story gave the wrong date for the election. Because fewer than four candidates filed in each ward, no primary will be necessary and the election will take place at the April 4 general election.

Time for another election – but only for Evanston’s Second and Ninth wards.

The deadline to file for the two seats in the city’s early 2023 special election was Monday. And five candidates are vying for the two spots In each ward, it is already a competition, according to the papers filed with the Evanston City Clerk

A duo of mayor-appointed incumbents and challengers in each ward have filed nominating petitions.

Council Member Kristian “Krissie” Harris (2nd Ward), who was appointed by Mayor Daniel Biss in September following Peter Braithwaite’s resignation, will face Darlene Cannon, who narrowly lost to Braithwaite in the 2021 race.

Cannon is a member of the Evanston Equity and Empowerment Commission and has previously served as committee chair of the Evanston Voter Initiative.

Patricia Gregory, a physical education teacher at Lincoln Elementary School and a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board, is also vying for a council seat in the Second Ward. She has said public safety and crime are “a huge concern of mine, both in the ward and in the community.”

In the Ninth Ward, the incumbent Juan Geracaris, appointed by Biss in February after Cicely Fleming’s resignation, faces Kathy Hayes.

Geracaris, said to be the first Hispanic member of the City Council, is a senior administrator at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He’s also a founding member and vice president of Evanston Latinos, a nonprofit organization that seeks to support Latinx people in the city. 

Hayes is a retired case manager, social worker and analyst. She also worked with Cook County for 35 years in public government.

The filing period for the municipal seats remains open through Monday, Nov. 28.

Other city council seats are not up for election until 2025, but voters will be able to elect candidates to fill seats on the city’s two school boards. The filing period for those races opens Dec. 12.