Given that local newsrooms are almost as understaffed as USAID, Peoria journalists performed admirably for the Feb. 25 primary election and the rest of this week.
Still, while resisting my inner crank, dozens of upcoming races have been virtually ignored, which could affect voters’ interest and turnout for the Consolidated General Election in a month.
The 17.9% turnout for the primary was higher than elections in 2021 and 2023 (which averaged 16.8%) but only about one-third of November’s 68.5%.
Years ago, election nights were “all hands on deck” in newsrooms crowded with two shifts of journalists, from news reporters and columnists to sportswriters and critics, most working the phones, buzzed on adrenalin, coffee, cold pizza and zeal, tracking down election authorities’ election results (handed out bit by bit to staffers on the scene), getting updates from reporters at polling places or candidate gatherings, and scribbling on paper ballots taped to walls – all to meet midnight deadlines for the next day’s morning edition.
After editors’ shouts subsided, the pages filled, and the presses started rolling, dozens of journalists adjourned, exhausted, to a late-night bar in Peoria Heights before grabbing some sleep and a few coffees and returning to work on follow-up stories – along with ballgames, concerts, police and fire reports from overnight events besides real-estate rewrites and local restaurant openings, closings and menu changes.
This week, the Peoria Election Commission posted its Cumulative Results Report, with all 65 precincts reporting, at 8:34 p.m. Tuesday. Twenty-two minutes later Andy Kravetz and Sean Lisitza from WMBD-TV 31 posted a good story about the unofficial results, including a comment from top vote-getter Rita Ali about the mayoral race – which showed she received 51.6% of the vote, with John Kelly receiving 24.67% and Chuck Grayeb 23.67%.
About 9:30 p.m., Taylor Fleming from WEEK-TV 25 posted a summary, with material from previous stories. In an effective one-two punch, WCBU-FM 89.9 posted Joe Deacon’s rundown of the mayoral race at 10:18 p.m., followed seven minutes later by Collin Schopp’s comprehensive roundup of the rest of the contested races.
The next day, Deacon had a good piece with Grayeb commenting that he wouldn’t concede to Kelly until all ballots are counted. (Official certification, including mail-in ballots accepted if they’re postmarked on or before election day, will be March 12.)
Also on Wednesday, Journal Star reporter JJ Bullock broke down the challenge Grayeb faces with more than 500 ballots expected, ballots that undoubtedly will be for Ali and Kelly as well as Grayeb.
Interestingly, there seemed to be no story pointing out the overall math: Ali’s 6,536 votes outpaced the 6,117 votes Kelly and Grayeb received together.
The April 1 Consolidated General Election will be more challenging for newsrooms depleted by consolidation and cutbacks that still aspire to serve the public interest in multiple counties, where various municipalities, school boards, referendums, etc., occur throughout central Illinois – beyond the Tri-County area.
But for the City of Peoria, that election will see City Council Dist. 1 incumbent Denise Jackson vs. James Kemper; Dist. 2 will have Alex Carmona vs. Estrella Diaz; 3rd District Councilman Tim Riggenbach running unopposed; incumbent 4th District Councilman Andre Allen versus challenger James Messmore; incumbent 5th District Councilman Denis Cyr against Hind Abi-Akar; City Clerk Stefanie Tarr running unopposed; Brookie Petty Sommerville running against Jim Montelongo for City Treasurer; Republican Andrew Couri running for Peoria Township Assessor with no Democratic opponent; and Peoria Township Supervisor LaTrina Leary, a Democrat, facing Republican Anita Meeker and former Township Supervisor Frank Abdnour, running as an Independent. (At-Large City Councilwoman Bernice Gordon-Young isn’t up for reelection.)
The April ballot will also contain races in 14 other Peoria County cities and villages. Further, the election also will see contests for boards of education from 17 school districts in and overlapping with Peoria County, plus library and park boards, and all of the county’s townships.
Hopefully, coverage in the next several weeks will be thorough. Stories the night of April 1 and the days after may be more incomplete than this week.