North Cook News

There are eleven competitive school board races in Chicago's North Shore Cook County suburbs, according to an analysis of candidate filings by North Cook News.

Of the eleven school boards, all currently have Democrat majorities, according to an analysis of elected official primary voting history.

All told-- 61 candidates are running for 38 open seats across the eleven districts, including 17 incumbents.

That includes 47 Democrats and 11 Republicans.

Incumbents running include Marcelo Sztainberg, 53, of Northbrook, currently a member of the Northfield Township 225 School board, which oversees Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools.

Last year, Sztainberg, a Northeastern Illinois University professor, made headlines after arguing the district should treat students who hadn't received a COVID vaccine like those who come to school drunk, or with a deadly weapon.

“If a student shows up (to school) with a knife, we won’t let them in. If someone is intoxicated, we won’t let them in. Why is it different with COVID?," he said.

Fellow Northfield 225 school board member Joel Taub, who once cursed out a parent in a school meeting who wasn't wearing a mask, telling him to "wear the mask on (his) f***ing balls," is not running for re-election.

Of the 77 current school board slots in the eleven competitive districts, 68 are held by Democrats, five by Republicans and four by independents.

All other North Shore Cook County school board races are not competitive, meaning the number of candidates running matches the number of seats available.

Uncompetitive North Shore Cook County school board races include Avoca 37, Skokie 68, Skokie 73.5, Kenilworth 38, Northbrook 28, Northbrook 27, River Trails 26, Sunset Ridge 29 and Wilmette 39.

Election Day is Tues. April 4.

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Which 2023 races are competitive in Chicago's North Shore suburbs?

Eleven school board races are in the balance on April 4. 

				Candidates
School Board	Current Split	Seats Up	Incumbents	total	DEM	GOP	Other
Niles HSD 219	7-0 Democrat	4	2	8	7	1	0
Niles ESD 71	7-0 Democrat	3	3	6	4	1	1
New Trier Township 203	7-0 Democrat	3	1	6	3	2	1
Northfield Township HSD 225	6-1 Democrat	3	2	5	3	2	0
Glenview CCSD 34	6-1 Democrat	4	1	5	4	1	0
Northbrook/Glenview SD 30	5-1-1- Democrat	4	2	5	5	0	0
Evanston HSD 202	7-0 Democrat	4	2	4	4	0	0
West Northfield SD 31	6-0-1 Democrat	3	1	4	4	0	0
Winnetka SD 36	3-2-2 Democrat	4	1	5	3	2	0
Evanston-Skokie 65	7-0 Democrat	3	2	5	5	0	0
Skokie Fairview SD 72	7-0 Democrat	3	0	8	5	2	1
TOTAL		38	17	61	47	11	3

Niles HSD 219
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	8
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Amber Wood	D	Skokie	43
Mateo Mohammed Farzaneh (I)	D	Lincolnwood	56
Ganae O. McAlpin-Toney	D	Skokie	43
Kennya 'Ken' Durr	D	Skokie	48
Celia Stennett	D	Skokie	42
Ramsen Sheeno	R	Morton Grove	45
Sidney Stein	D	Skokie	57
David Y. Ko (I)	D	Skokie	43
Existing Board Members
Naema Abraham	D	Morton Grove	49
Joseph S. Nowik	D	Skokie	62
Elana Jacobs	D	Skokie	45
Members leaving board
Ignacio Lopez	D	Skokie	44
Matthew A. Flink	D	Morton Grove	37

New Trier Township 203
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	6
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Sally P. Pofcher	D	Wilmette	55
Jean Murphy Hahn (I)	D	Glencoe	52
Courtney A. McDonough	D	Winnetka	46
Bernadine Hossfeld	R	Wilmette	69
Blanca Zaragoza-Kaufman	NV	Glencoe	59
Jennifer Yeo	R	Glencoe	37
Existing Board Members
Keith Dronen	D	Wilmette	64
Avik Das	D	Glenview	46
Kimberly W. Alcantara	D	Wilmette	54
Sally Tomlinson	D	Winnetka	58
Members leaving board
Brad McLane	D	Winnetka	66
Cathleen Albrecht	D	Wilmette	62

Northfield Township HSD 225
Current Split	6-1	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	5
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Marcelo O. Sztainberg (I)	D	Northbrook	53
Sandra Muhlenbeck (I)	D	Glenview	52
Sidney (Skip) Shein (I)	D	Glenview	65
Paul T. Kelly	R	Glenview	52
James J. Geldermann	R	Northbrook	71
Existing Board Members
Bruce W. Doughty	R	Northbrook	59
Peter A. Glowacki	D	Glenview	52
Matthew D. O'Hara	D	Glenview	50
Michelle Seguin	D	Northbrook	54
Members leaving board
Joel Taub	D	Northbrook	71

Niles ESD 71
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	6
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Victoria Pichla Luz (I)	D	Niles	54
Joseph Kuffel (I)	D	Niles	48
Kenneth Krueger (I)	D	Niles	41
Jo Ann K. Girel	R	Niles	35
Mete Hachim	D	Niles	44
Katarzyna Szymelfenig	NV	Niles	49
Existing Board Members
Matthew Holbrook	D	Niles	59
Dexi Karabatsos	D	Niles	46
Jaclyn Jaime	D	Niles	41
Matt Glancy	D	Niles	58

Glenview CCSD 34
Current Split	6-1	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	5
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Scott R. Nelson (I)	D	Glenview	55
Vasilios Soupos	D	Glenview	45
Alex Kamilewicz	D	Glenview	49
Julie S. Moon	D	Glenview	52
Jennifer C. Patel	R	Glenview	46
Existing Board Members
James R. Baumstark	D	Glenview	53
James R. Dolan, III	D	Glenview	42
Diane Stefani	D	Glenview	52
Members leaving board
John Heggie	D	Glenview	52
Michael J. Korman	D	Glenview	54
Natalie Jachtorowycz	R	Glenview	67

Northbrook/Glenview SD 30
Current Split	5-1-1	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	5
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Kevin Glowacz	D	Northbrook	37
Pamela Manicioto	D	Northbrook	39
Patrick Kunxiong Wang	D	Northbrook	40
Ammar Mirza Rizki (I)	D	Northbrook	46
Zivit Shapiro Blonder (I)	D	Northbrook	48
Existing Board Members
Stephanie D. Yohannan	D	Glenview	41
Keith L. Karchmar	NV	Northbrook	45
Jeff Zuercher	D	Glenview	48
Members leaving board
Nancy Artz	R	Northbrook	63
Daniel Levin	D	Glenview	61

Evanston Township HSD 202
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	6
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Monique Parsons (I)	D	Skokie	54
Elizabeth Rolewicz (I)	D	Evanston	46
Kristen Scotti	D	Evanston	41
Leah Piekarz	D	Evanston	55
Existing Board Members
Mirah S. Anti	D	Evanston	52
Gretchen Livingston	D	Evanston	60
Pat Savage-Williams	D	Evanston	69
Patricia Maunsell	D	Evanston	59
Members leaving board
Stephanie G. Teterycz	D	Evanston	55

West Northfield SD 31
Current Split	6-0-1	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Meghan M. McMillin	D	Northbrook	43
Maria J Vasilopoulos (I)	D	Northbrook	50
Noah A. Frank	D	Northbrook	40
Nicholas G. Parfitt	D	Northbrook	42
Existing Board Members
Allison Slade-Rothstein	D	Northbrook	46
Laura J. Sanchez-Greenberg	D	Northbrook	47
Jeffrey M. Steres	NV	Northbrook	47
Darrin Stern	D	Northbrook	52
Members leaving board
Melissa Choo-Valentinas	D	Northbrook	54
Daphne Frank	D	Northbrook	45
Winnetka SD 36
Current Split	3-2-2	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	5
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Luke Figora	D	Winnetka	40
Emily J. Rose (I)	D	Winnetka	41
Katherine Palmer Myers-Crum	D	Winnetka	44
Marena Rudy	R	Winnetka	38
Patrick Conway	R	Winnetka	39
Existing Board Members
Daniel M. Waters	NV	Winnetka	47
Steve Cirulis	NV	Winnetka	52
Alyssa J. Rapp	D	Winnetka	44
Members leaving board
Maxie Clarke	R	Winnetka	45
Dawn Livingston	D	Winnetka	56
Megan Panje-Wilson	R	Winnetka	48
Evanston-Skokie SD 65
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	5
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
John Matthew Martin	D	Evanston	40
Mya Wilkins (I)	D	Skokie	44
Ndona N. Muboyayi	D	Evanston	47
Omar G. Salem	D	Evanston	37
Sergio Hernandez, Jr. (I)	D	Evanston	50
Existing Board Members
Soo La Kim	D	Evanston	55
Elizabeth Lindsay-Ryan	D	Evanston	47
Donna Wang Su	D	Evanston	41
Joseph Hailpern	D	Skokie	42
Members leaving board
Tracy Olasimbo	D	Evanston	37
Skokie Fairview SD 72
Current Split	7-0	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	8
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Christine Chammo-Sojka	D	Skokie	37
Rafael Cavour	R	Skokie	45
Estera Tomuta	NV	Skokie	41
Kasey Stewart	D	Skokie	43
Gretchen Wening	D	Skokie	45
Alejandro Magana	D	Skokie	40
Saji Philip	R	Skokie	59
Ross A. Sawyers	D	Skokie	43
Existing Board Members
Jacqueline Bujdei	D	Skokie	38
Sargon Guliana	D	Skokie	47
Erin C. Swanson	D	Skokie	48
Members leaving board
Mary Anne Brown	D	Skokie	59
Nora Maeve Downing	D	Skokie	50
Shereen K. Lannoye	D	Skokie	48
Aaron E. Schirmer	D	Skokie	43

Source: Cook County Clerk, Illinois State Board of Elections