Five months after the April election, neither Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard nor any incumbent township trustees have announced their intention to run for office again.
Non-major party candidates were required to file petitions by 5 p.m. Monday, and five people threw their hats into the ring for supervisor and six for four trustee positions. No one filed for city clerk or appraiser and one person filed for highway commissioner.
The Reform Thornton Township Party submitted a slate of candidates, with Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark running for supervisor and Corean Davis, Rachel Jones, Dominique Randle-El and Jacinta Gholston running for trustee. Davis is Harvey’s city manager and Randle-El is the Harvey 5th Ward councilor.
Independent candidates for supervisor are Nate Fields, Jr., Stafford Owens and Sidney Moore.
Owens is a board member for Thornton Township District 205. Moore, of Homewood, ran unsuccessfully for Illinois secretary of state in 2022 and said Monday he has experience working for multiple political campaigns.
Moore said he hopes to bring transparency and positivity back to the township of about 150,000 residents after Henyard’s high-profile, chaotically run administration.
“She brings out the worst people,” Moore said of the current supervisor. “People are now ashamed to live in this township.”
Fields, 33, of South Holland, said last month that he worked for the city under former Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli until his position under Henyard was eliminated. He also said he wants to improve transparency and involve the community more in municipal decision-making.
“I hope that the community that is outraged by the way Tiffany is behaving will now stand up and say, ‘Okay, pick him now,’ because I have to stand up now and make a difference,” Fields said.
Although Henyard and the incumbent trustees have not filed, the major party candidates in the municipal election could be determined through a caucus, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
That means voters in Thornton Township may not know whether their supervisor will vote until Dec. 3 in April, a far cry from Dolton, where Henyard began campaigning for re-election for mayor last month and entered the Democratic primary against village manager Jason House.
Township Trustees Chris Gonzalez, Carmen Carlisle and Darlene Gray Everett also have not announced their plans. Last month, Gerald Jones resigned as trustee, and a vote on his interim replacement is scheduled for a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
Federal investigators have filed subpoenas since this spring seeking records about Henyard, people affiliated with her and organizations under her control at Dolton Village Hall and Thornton Township Hall in South Holland, as well as Thornton Township High School District 205.
The Illinois Board of Elections website states that most townships in Illinois use the caucus method to nominate incumbent party candidates for township office.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
