Note: This story has been updated to reflect Lisa Williams Hall filed Monday to run for District 205 Board of Education.
Voters will have plenty of options for vacant city of Galesburg positions in the April 2025 Consolidated Election, including three candidates vying for mayor and a three-way race for one of the City Council seats.
Monday was the final day candidates could file nomination petitions for the April 1, 2025, Consolidated Election. The last day a person may file a notarized Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate with the Galesburg Board of Elections is Jan. 30, 2025.
Candidates running for mayor include incumbent Peter Schwartzman, former two-term mayor John Pritchard, and Anthony Law. Schwartzman defeated Pritchard for his first term as mayor in 2021.
Ward 6 will see a three-way race and a new member sworn in next spring, as first-term Council member Sarah Davis elected not to run for re-election. Candidates in Ward 6 include Greg Saul, Tianna Cervantez and Demarkius Medley Sr.
Incumbent Wayne Dennis will face challenger Wendel Hunigan in Ward 2.
And in Ward 4, incumbent Dwight White will face former Council member Corine Andersen. White won by just five votes in 2021, garnering 91 votes to Andersen’s 86.
Incumbent City Clerk Kelli Bennewitz and incumbent Township Assessor Laura E. Williams will run unopposed in April, barring any write-in candidates.
Candidates running for office must be 18. Otherwise:
No person shall be eligible to the office:
- Unless he is a qualified elector of the municipality and has resided therein at least one year next preceding his election or appointment; or
- Unless, in the case of alderperson, he resides within the ward for which he is elected; or
- If he is in arrears in the payment of any tax or other indebtedness due to the city; or
- If he has been convicted in Illinois state courts or in courts of the United States of malfeasance in office, bribery, or other infamous crime.
10 candidates for 4 spots so far in District 205
As of Monday morning, 10 candidates had filed nominating petitions to run for four open seats on the District 205 Board of Education in the April Consolidated Election. Final filings were unavailable from the Knox County Clerk’s office after the filing period closed on Monday.
Up for re-election in District 205 are seats occupied by Pamella Bess-Tabb and Rod Scherpe within the district, and Tera Boettcher and Maury Lyon in remaining townships.
Bess-Tabb, Scherpe, Boettcher and Lyon all filed to run for re-election in 2025. Challengers to file petitions were Robert “Bo” Irons, Jaclyn Smith-Esters, Luan Statham and Lisa Williams Hall (within the district), and Jamie L. Harter and Benjamin Yeutson (remaining townships).
Four of the board’s total seats represent residents of the city of Galesburg, with the remaining three seats representing outlying areas within the district.
