Oak Park Heights accepting applications for city council seat after death of longtime mayor

The death of longtime Oak Park Heights Mayor Mary McComber last month left an opening on the city council and necessitated a change in leadership.
Former Deputy Mayor Chuck Dougherty is now mayor, and council member Mike Runk has been appointed deputy mayor.
The council is accepting applications from candidates interested in filling the vacant city council seat. The deadline for applying is July 3; applications can be found on the city's website or at City Hall.
The appointed council member will serve until a special election in November 2026; Dougherty will serve as mayor until a special election at the same time.
Both special elections would be for a two-year term to finish McComber's and Dougherty's remaining terms, said City Administrator Jacob Rife.
Dougherty has served on the council since 2013. Prior to that, he served on both the parks commission and the planning commission.
'I am honored and grateful for the trust the Oak Park Heights City Council has placed in me by appointing me as mayor of our city,' Dougherty said. 'Mayor McComber left some big shoes to fill, but in this time of transition, I am committed to providing steady leadership and ensuring continuity for our community.'
McComber, 71, died May 26 at her home in Oak Park Heights of complications related to Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She served for 12 years on the Oak Park Heights City Council before running for mayor in 2012.
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Politico

16 hours ago

• Politico

Who Pritzker could pick for his No. 2

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Now that she's running for U.S. Senate in 2026, she wouldn't be able to be on the governor's ticket, too. So, Pritzker would have to name a new running mate. Names that have popped up: Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, former Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell and Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia. They all bring something to the table: Manar is the budget maestro in the governor's office. And the central Illinois native is someone Pritzker trusts to carry out his vision for the state should he leave for D.C. Gordon-Booth was a House budgeteer. Mitchell is a former state lawmaker who served during Pritzker's first term, overseeing public safety, energy and infrastructure issues. And Valencia is a City Hall veteran who, like Stratton, is a good retail politician. RELATED Republican Congressman Darin LaHood doesn't rule out a run for governor, by Catrina Barker for The Center Square THE BUZZ La VETO Loca: The Chicago City Council approved a curfew ordinance to control 'teen takeovers,' but Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would veto the measure. 'It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust,' he said after the vote, adding the measure 'is counterproductive to the progress we have made in reducing crime and violence in our city.' The veto would be the first by a Chicago mayor since 2006, according to WBEZ's Mariah Woelfel. The other side: Ald. Brian Hopkins spoke passionately ahead of the vote about his concern that more needs to be done to stop violent acts that have occurred in his downtown ward. The measure passed 27-22, short of the 34 needed to override a mayoral veto. 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USA Today

a day ago

• USA Today

Largest US city tries to be more democratic with voting. It's like picking ice cream.

Largest US city tries to be more democratic with voting. It's like picking ice cream. The candidates for mayor in the nation's largest city are, arguably, as diverse as the residents they seek to represent. Show Caption Hide Caption NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander detained by ICE Brad Lander, New York City's comptroller and mayoral candidate, was detained while escorting a defendant out of immigration court. NEW YORK − The candidates for mayor in the nation's biggest city are, arguably, more diverse than the residents they seek to represent. Among those in New York City's June 24 primary election are a disgraced former governor; a democratic socialist state representative (and former rapper); a street performer named Paperboy who dons a clown face; and a former hedge fund executive trying to channel Mike Bloomberg. With so many options, New Yorkers will choose their next mayor like they pick ice cream in the summer. The city's ranked choice system allows voters to choose their top five candidates for mayor, plus top picks in other city races. Even if your top choice doesn't make it, you can still get flavors, or candidates, you prefer. Ranked choice 'allows for people to vote in a way that expresses how they feel,' said Susan Kang, an associate professor of political science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The system aims to give voters more choices in a crowded field of nearly a dozen Democratic and a handful of Republican mayoral hopefuls in closed primaries for both parties. It also hopes to bring up candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, often without access to vast campaign war chests. The system, first approved by voters in 2019, has been used in elections around the country − from Alaska to Maine, and from San Francisco to tiny Woodland Hills, Utah (population 1,571). Other places, including Washington, D.C., more recently adopted it. Australians use the system. Winning New York City's Democratic primary is almost always a ticket to City Hall in a city that's about two-thirds registered Democrats. Primary lessons: Trump rules, Dems are revved. NYC's melee is next. How Cuomo v. Mamdani shows ranked choice voting Andrew Cuomo, New York's longtime governor who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, had led comfortably in polls. Many voters see Cuomo, 67, as an experienced moderate executive who can fight President Donald Trump. But with ranked choice, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist calling to freeze rents, has inched ever closer to Cuomo. That's because under ranked choice, a candidate has to get over 50% of votes. While polls have Cuomo ahead, he's unlikely to win most first-round votes. At each round, candidates with the fewest votes get eliminated. Voters who ranked less supported candidates first will have their subsequent choices allocated to their next ranked candidate. New York first used ranked choice voting in 2021. With many candidates vehemently opposed to Cuomo, their supporters' next-round votes can help Mamdani, who is endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive star. The process continues until there are two candidates left. Cuomo is favored to win, though polling has tightened between the former governor and Mamdani. Cross-endorsements, cooperation The city's first time using ranked choice, in 2021, resulted in the narrow, eighth-round victory of Eric Adams, the swaggering, scandal-plagued mayor. (Adams dropped out of the 2025 primary, opting to run for re-election as an independent.) Then, Adams' last standing opponent, Kathryn Garcia, received a late endorsement from Andrew Yang, another candidate. Yang supported ranked choice even in his 2020 presidential run. 'The ranked choice voting system enables you to take advantage of being someone's second- or third-place vote,' Yang, now a third-party advocate, said. 'A smart candidate will try and capitalize on that.' In 2025, there are more cross-endorsements, seen with Mamdani and other candidates to Cuomo's left, such as city Comptroller Brad Lander and former lawmaker Michael Blake. However, barbs are out over accusations of antisemitism, islamophobia and documented sexual harassment. Ranked choice challenges Under this relatively new system, voters need to know how to correctly rank their choices. In a 2023 study, Lindsey Cormack, an associate professor of quantitative social science at Stevens Institute of Technology, found higher levels of voided ballots in lower income areas and communities with lower educational attainment. There were also issues among people who speak a language other than English. 'Anytime you change a system, you make it nominally harder, or at least the capacity for errors goes up, because there's just more boxes to tick,' she said. Complicating matters, the primaries use ranked choice, but the general election does not. Nor do state or presidential elections. Only growing beyond June 24 primary election Politicians and experts agree that, with time, voters can get used to their new system. For now, ranked choice appears to continue expanding across cities and states. In November, Washington, D.C., approved ranked choice voting. Christina Henderson, one of the district's at-large representatives and a Brooklyn native, has supported ranked choice to help people dissatisfied with polarized politics. 'If provided the right information, they can make the right choice for themselves,' Henderson, an independent, said. 'Now, the key is providing the right information.' New York City's primary is June 24. Early voting is underway. Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@ or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

New York Post

2 days ago

• New York Post

Ex-Gov. Pataki predicts Curtis Sliwa can win NYC mayor race, all because of the Dem slate

Former three-term GOP Gov. George Pataki claims Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa has a chance to win City Hall, given how far the Democrats have veered left or have been tainted by scandal. 'This is the weakest Democratic field ever,' Pataki told The Post. He said Sliwa, 71, the Guardian Angels founder, will have enough financial resources to run a competitive campaign and attract independents and disgruntled Democrats as well as Republicans. 3 Ex-Gov. George Pataki said he believes Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, 71, has a shot to become the next mayor of New York City. AP 'Curtis knows the city better than anyone else. He knows the neighborhoods better than anyone else. He knows the subways better than anyone else,' Pataki said. Pataki is headlining a campaign fundraiser for Sliwa on June 26 at Fushimi Times Square — two days after the crowded Democratic Party primary. The event is co-hosted by state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox and the NYGOP Asian Caucus. Donations run from $250 to $2,100 for the Sliwa campaign. Sliwa is trying to prevent incumbent Mayor Eric Adams — who skipped the Democratic primary to run as a longshot independent — from siphoning Republican support in the general election, a GOP insider said. Adams is seeking re-election on an independent line after skipping the Democratic primary. 3 Pataki says that with the weak field of Democratic candidates and Sliwa's experience in the city, he will gain enough financial traction to run a tough campaign. Michael McWeeney Pataki said Sliwa has the experience and credibility through his volunteer patrols with the Guardian Angels to address public safety and vexing problems such as homelessness and aiding the mentally ill. The bottom line, Pataki said, is that the city was best run in modern times by Republican Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. 'Bloomberg and Giuliani were the best mayors in the last 50 years. They were Republicans,' Pataki said. 3 Pataki also told The Post that if Zohran Mamdani is the Democratic nominee for mayor, he could see mainstream Democrats defect toward Sliwa, given how far left the young mayoral hopeful is. Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock If Democratic frontrunner Andrew Cuomo wins the primary, he will have to face a broad electorate that might not look as kindly on the sexual misconduct accusations that forced his resignation from the governorship, and other flaws in his record, Pataki said. Cuomo denies the harassment claims. And many mainstream Democrats might defect to Sliwa if far left socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani wins the primary and is the Democratic nominee, Pataki said. Incumbent Adams has also been mired in scandal, though the federal corruption charges filed against him were dropped after President Trump took office. 'It's almost impossible for a candidate on an independent line to get elected,' Pataki said. Pataki, 79, was first elected governor by toppling former three-term Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1994, the late father of Andrew Cuomo. He's the last Republican to win statewide office.