Wendy Yanow, Marie Lynn Toussaint and Micah Eimer lead the Oakton College Board of Trustees election, according to unofficial election results from the Cook County Clerk’s office.
As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Yanow, Toussaint and Eimer held 29,530, 25,917 and 23,271 votes, respectively, with all precincts reporting. Mail-in ballots are still being counted, and official results are not available. The Clerk’s office reported 74,107 votes cast, and voters could select three of six candidates for trustee. Yanow and Toussaint are incumbents, and Eimer is a first-time candidate.
Eimer is a cardiologist with Northwestern Medicine with no prior political experience. He said he wants to raise the number of skilled workers in health care and provide more career paths for individuals who are not college-bound. If elected as a trustee, he plans to increase the number of high school students who attend Oakton and pursue careers in the health care industry afterward, remedy local worker shortage issues and increase the availability of college credits in high school to make college more affordable.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to work at the community’s college and to help young people get a start on their life and their career,” Eimer said. “I’m especially excited about the prospect of helping young people get into the healthcare workforce, where I think their help is badly needed and will be rewarded with a lasting and fulfilling career.”
Running for a second term, Yanow is a consultant and adjunct professor at DePaul University. She has centered her career around adult education and wants to expand on Oakton’s current partnerships with Endeavor Health and Northwestern Medicine. Yanow also hopes to include elementary school districts and other industries in these partnerships.
Also a one-term incumbent, Toussaint is an attorney and co-founder of the Haitian American Lawyers Association. She served as an Assistant Public Defender with the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defenders for the past 30 years. If reelected, Toussaint hopes to make Oakton College more accessible and affordable and to advance equity and justice issues while upholding Oakton’s academic reputation.
Yanow and Toussaint could not immediately be reached for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Email: b.shapiro@dailynorthwestern.com
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