Column: Statewide Democrats, Realtors enter Warren, Gurnee races

Chicago Tribune

24-03-2025

While Waukeganites are in the midst of a crusty mayoral election featuring four candidates, their neighbors to the west in Gurnee also find themselves with ballot choices. There are spirited elections in the village and in Warren Township.
With those elections comes two statewide groups — the Illinois Democratic Party and Realtors — who have injected themselves into what usually have been nonpartisan, micro-local contests. Of course, political parties and lobbying groups can support or endorse any candidates they care about and want to see elected.
In Warren Township, appointed incumbent Supervisor Elmer Fallos is being challenged by Carissa Casbon, currently a Lake County Board member and a former Millburn Grade School District 24 board president. Fallos leads the nonpartisan Warren United complete slate of incumbent township officials.
Casbon is listed as an independent on the April 1 ballot, although she was elected a County Board member in 2020 as a Democrat representing District 7, which includes much of Gurnee, portions of Waukegan, Gages Lake, Wildwood and Grandwood Park.
She was re-elected a Democrat in the 2022 election; the seat is up in 2026. She has been endorsed by a number of Democratic groups and party officeholders for the supervisor post.
Casbon's endorsements include backing by the Illinois Democratic Party. It is the statewide machine's second foray into municipal and township endorsements under the umbrella of the party's 'Vote Local Illinois' endeavor.
Township elections are ostensibly nonpartisan races, but state Democrats apparently seek to expand their already large footprint by joining in the usually lower-turnout municipal elections for local offices. Democrats hold all statewide offices, a super-majority in the legislature, all countywide offices and the majority on the Lake County Board.
Illinois Democrats are supporting some 270 candidates for a variety of local offices in all areas of the state, including the College of Lake County, in the April 1 election. Candidates also will be beneficiaries of a six-figure advertising campaign, including online postings, prior to local voting.
Fallos, who served as a township trustee, was appointed supervisor in 2023 by the Town Board after former Supervisor Sue Simpson quietly retired. He says he is the truly independent candidate, 'that has not been beholden to Democrats or Republicans.'
Casbon failed to respond to e-mail questions about whether she would give up her County Board seat if elected supervisor. Holding two offices is considered by most folks 'double dipping': Getting salaries from two different governmental bodies.
Also being a forest preserves commissioner with per diem pay, she would be 'triple dipping.' Such is not without precedent.
The late Robert W. Depke, whose name adorns the sprawling Warren Township Center complex at Washington Street and Almond Road, was twice Lake County Board chairman while serving as township supervisor. Prior to the adoption of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, when county boards became elected units of government, township supervisors comprised members of county boards.
The reasoning behind the constitutional change was to get away from consolidating too much power in the hands of fewer elected officials. That hasn't always happened, and officials have to decide which constituency they represent when they confront specific issues when they 'double dip.'
In Gurnee, Mayor Thomas Hood is seeking a second four-year term and is being challenged by Trustee Quin O'Brien, who has been on the Village Board for six years. Both are running as independents.
In Gurnee, the Illinois REALTORS Fund has thrown itself into the mayoral fray, sending out glossy oversized mailers supporting O'Brien, a semi-retired Realtor and founder of an online real estate company. The Gurnee contest is one of a number across the state — from Evanston, to Bloomington, to Grayslake — where, like the Democrat Party, the real estate political action committee is backing candidates.
One of the fliers mailed to Gurnee residents and paid for by the Springfield-based group, caused O'Brien to issue an apology to Hood the other day. It tried to point out police department staffing levels are below those before the COVID-19 outbreak, which is untrue.
O'Brien said he did not authorize the mailed piece, which in fact has this caveat: 'This communication is not authorized by the candidate and the candidate is not responsible for the activities of the Illinois REALTORS Fund.'
Yet, the group sent a follow-up political piece on O'Brien's behalf saying he would fight against any establishment of a village property tax. However, that doesn't seem to be a campaign issue in Gurnee, which hasn't had a village property tax in decades.
Like Vernon Hills, Gurnee chiefly relies on sales tax revenue to support its extensive municipal services. Hood has steadfastly pledged there is no property tax in the village's future, so it's uncertain where the political arm of the Realtor organization got that real estate tax idea or the police staffing level claim. Realtors have since sent out a third direct mailer backing O'Brien's candidacy.
Election Day is April 1, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting is ongoing daily through March 29 for the village and township elections from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gurnee Village Hall, 325 O'Plaine Road, and at various countywide locations, including the Lake County Building in downtown Waukegan.