In this episode of Everything Evanston, The Daily talks to voters about how they prepared to vote in the election. Voters used resources such as campaign websites and the opinions of their peers to research candidates.
GORDON ANDERSON: We’ve had three grandkids go through (Evanston/Skokie School) District 65 and (Evanston Township High School), and so I decided well, Grandpa ought to do the right thing and study.
ANAVI PRAKASH: That was 1st Ward resident Gordon Anderson talking about how he prepared to vote in the Evanston consolidated municipal election held on April 1.
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ANAVI PRAKASH: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anavi Prakash. This is Everything Evanston, a podcast covering all things Evanston.
Today, we’re looking into how voters prepared and voted in the election. In eight out of nine wards, Evanston residents had two or more candidates running for council, including write-in candidates.
The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education had four seats open with 12 candidates running. No incumbent members ran for reelection.
The Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education also had four open seats, with four candidates running. Three of four incumbent members ran for reelection.
Candidates in all these races used a variety of means to make themselves known to the community, including campaign websites, Instagram accounts and Facebook accounts.
These strategies were effective in catching 2nd Ward resident Michael Marin’s eye, he said.
MICHAEL MARIN: Social media is big. Still paper, direct mail if you’re in marketing. Still people like that, you’ve got to touch someone eight times before you make them a loyal client, so media is big, constant communication.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Marin said he voted for candidate Jacqueline Mendoza in the 2nd Ward City Council race because he was impressed by her website’s bio and her consistent experience.
Fourth Ward resident Richard Gleason said the school board elections were crucial because schools are the “most important thing” in any town.
Before voting, he consulted sources he deemed reliable, he said.
RICHARD GLEASON: I talked to friends, I talked to people who had been on the school board in the past and to former teachers.
ANAVI PRAKASH: He said these sources were especially important for the District 65 election, as the newly elected board members will be part of the board working to overcome the district’s $13.2 million deficit and achieve financial stability.
RICHARD GLEASON: Anybody who lives in this town likes the fact that we’re not just one kind or one race or one economic group. I think we have a great mix of people here and I think our teachers have always been great. It just seems to me, especially with District 65, the board for whatever reason, or the people that were hired to run the district, haven’t done such a great job over the last few years.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Second Ward resident Julia Wallace (Medill ’22) emphasized that ultimately, the most important thing is to cast a vote in all elections.
JULIA WALLACE: It is one of many things you can do to benefit or contribute to your community. It’s definitely not the end all be all — casting your vote and just seeing what happens — but I think if you want better for Evanston or any community in general to be active and outspoken about those things is how you make that heard. You can’t complain about things you don’t try to, you know, solve or fix or address.
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ANAVI PRAKASH: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anavi Prakash. Thanks for listening to another episode of Everything Evanston. This episode was reported and produced by Anavi Prakash. Hannah Webster, Marisa Guerra Echeverria, Jack Baker, Audrey Pachuta, Sophie Baker and Ben Shapiro contributed reporting.
The Audio Editor is Isabella Jacob. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Anavi Prakash, Misha Manjuran Oberoi and Danny O’Grady. The Editor in Chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Revolution” by Xennial, used under a Creative Commons 4.0 International License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
Follow us on X and Instagram @thedailynu.
Email: a.prakash@dailynorthwestern.com
X: @anavi_52
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