Evanston could see the biggest turnover among its elected office holders in two decades in Tuesday’s election — and the turnover is already guaranteed to be bigger than average.
During local elections dating back to 2001, Evanston voters, through a combination of filling vacancies and turning out incumbents, have on average replaced 3.4 of the 11 elected positions — mayor, clerk and nine aldermen — in elections held every four years.
This year, as the result of a high number of contested races and the defeat of two incumbent aldermen in the February primary, there will be at least five new people on the City Council dais in May and there could be as many as 10.
The only incumbent facing no contest this year is Alderman Cicely Fleming, 9th Ward. The only other office not up for grabs tomorrow is that of the mayor who will replace the retiring Steve Hagerty. Daniel Biss secured that job by getting a majority of the votes in the three-way primary contest.
Here’s a look at the candidates, with links to more details about their positions.
Voter turnout over the past five City Council elections has ranged from a low of 6,804 in 2013 — when there were no changes to the elected officials and only three contested races — to a high of 18,422 in 2017 when four open seats and one challenger defeated an incumbent.