Alds. Delores Holmes (5th) and Mark Tendam (6th) beat back challengers Tuesday, handily winning re-election to the Evanston City Council.
Holmes, who was challenged by write-in candidate Carlis Sutton, won 338 of the 453 ballots cast, or 75 percent of all votes. Many Northwestern students live in the ward, mainly in off-campus apartments and houses.
“I’m very excited,” said Holmes, who hosted a celebration party at Boocoo Cultural Center and Cafe. “I’m anxious to finish what we’ve started.”
She said her priorities for her third term include economic development, safety and job training for youth. Holmes also expressed disappointment at the low voter turnout in an interview with The Daily earlier today.
Sutton could not be immediately reached for comment. He ran on a platform of preventing gentrification and increasing job opportunities for youth in his ward.
“The percentage of black people in Evanston has decreased over the last two censuses,” Sutton said in an April 6 interview with The Daily. “I don’t see any movement by the city of Evanston to stop that flow out.”
The 6th Ward had higher turnout than any other ward in Evanston, with 26 percent of voters casting ballots. In a rematch of the close 2009 race, Tendam beat challenger Mark Sloane. Tendam claimed 1,101 votes Tuesday, garnering 66 percent of the vote.
Tendam was endorsed by six aldermen and Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, among other city and county officials.
“It was hard to battle the kind of endorsements he had from all the elected officials,” Sloane said. “It felt like David and Goliath, and sometimes David does lose.”
Tendam said he was looking forward to continuing to work on initiatives regarding crime and public safety. He mentioned that police officers will begin holding regular meetings with ward residents in an effort to facilitate better relationships between residents and the police. Tendam also said he hoped to focus on economic development across the city and to make the council’s focus on getting greater community involvement when it makes an investment.
With all incumbent aldermen re-elected — along with Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, who ran unopposed — the same City Council will return to the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center later this month.
