Network 49 held its first regular membership meeting on January 24 and the March 2018 primary was top of mind. Our organization wants to help residents make informed political decisions and work for progressive representation, so we invited candidates to speak and then conducted our first straw poll of the current campaign cycle. We intend to use the result to guide our upcoming political activism.
Network 49 members and guests at January 24 general membership meeting.
Local favorite State Representative Kelly Cassidy (14th) was the top vote getter on Network 49’s straw ballot for the Illinois March primary, conducted during its regular membership meeting at Willye White Park, 1610 West Howard, Chicago, Wednesday evening. She was the unanimous choice. (36 ballots were cast and some voters did not identify a candidate in all races).
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss attracted the second highest votes with 31 of 35 votes cast. JB Pritzker tallied 3 votes, with the other candidates getting 0 votes.
Network 49 members speak on behalf of candidates at the January 24 meeting.
In the Cook County Assessor race, Democratic challenger Fritz Kaegi – who appeared at the meeting after fellow Assessor candidate Andrea Raila – collected nearly all the votes cast. Kaegi and Raila are hoping to unseat incumbent Joe Berrios, who is also the Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.
Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle also polled strongly, getting all but 1 vote (which went to challenger Bob Fioretti), while Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas was favored over challenger Peter Gariepy more than 3-1, with quite a few voters selecting “None.”
Long-time incumbent Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (13th) was favored with about 63% of the vote over newcomer Bushra Amiwala, who received almost 40%. Despite the loss, Amiwala was viewed positively as someone to watch for future races and many members spoke enthusiastically in her favor.
The most spirited race was between the eight candidates seeking to replace the retiring Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The results were much tighter and members spoke in favor of their preferred candidates prior to the voting. In the end, Aaron Goldstein edged Sharon Fairley 17-12, with 3 other candidates dividing 4 votes.
Network 49 will share the results of the straw poll to its members to help inform their decisions in the March 2018 primary.
