As the Prospectus’ self-appointed political correspondent and columnist, it’s time to address the midterm elections. In this piece, I will be issuing endorsements for County races I see as important. In the following weeks, I will continue with endorsements for statewide candidates and propositions.
County Clerk: Aaron Ammons
There’s little to be said other than if you respect democracy you must vote for the incumbent, Aaron Ammons. Clerk Ammons has overcome a history of addiction to devote his life to public service. As a former SEIU 73 Chapter 119 President, Urbana Alderman, and as the incumbent County Clerk with a background in community organizing, Mr. Ammons is clearly a qualified candidate. Mr. Ammons stands for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, workers’ rights, and as the election authority he, importantly, stands for voting rights.
During his tenure as County Clerk, Mr. Ammons administered the highest turnout elections in the county’s history. Through this high turnout period, the state election authority has affirmed that the results of each election in our county have been counted with 100% accuracy.
The Clerk’s opponent, Terrence Stuber, is an extreme right-wing Tolono Village Trustee. Terrence Stuber’s Twitter suggests he supports former Vice President and religious extremist Mike Pence’s opposition to abortion, supports radical congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s characterization of the transgender community being “groomers”, and has openly questioned the validity of the 2020 presidential election including the counting of Champaign County’s votes on local radio stations and newspapers. Terrence Stuber is too radical for this county and can’t be trusted to count our votes.
County Executive: Steve Summers
Steve Summers has been serving this community for longer than this position has been around. Summers is an experienced elected official in the community. He served on the Urbana Board of Education for 16 years and has served on the county board for five years. Also, Mr. Summers is the retired president of Laborers Local 703. For working people, it is extremely important to have pro-union elected officials.
Summers’ experience with the Laborers Local affirms his commitment to empowering employees. In his platform, Summers states he wants to deal with aging facilities. Projects like this bring an opportunity for our county to work with unions to improve our facilities and bring better working conditions to the county employees who staff them. In light of our Country’s revitalized labor movement, we need to elect candidates like Steve Summers to protect and strengthen workers’ rights.
County Board District 4: Jennifer Lokshin and Elizabeth Hanauer-Friedman
With social media and heavily financed national media entities seemingly driving the political culture, it can be easy to forget about local races like County Board seats. However, the district I live in, District 4, is in great need of new representation.
In the County Board meeting that took place on October 11th, 2022, both of this district’s current board members and republican nominees Jim McGuire and Brad Passalacqua endorsed autocracy. In accordance with the national republican marching orders, they voted against recognizing President Joe Biden as having been fairly elected. Apparently, these candidates trust Donald Trump and his far-right media lackeys more than the federal judiciary, state judiciaries, and election authorities at various levels throughout the country that upheld the results of the 2020 election. Typical to the modern republican party, these two candidates are exemplars of ‘the rule of law for thee, not for me’.
We can’t afford to have legislators tasked with County oversight that disrespect the law. For this reason, I support their Democratic opponents Jennifer Lokshin and Elizabeth Hanauer-Friedman.
In Champaign County, voting is already underway at the Brookens Administrative Center gym and more locations will be opening soon. Grace period registration is currently underway which means any unregistered voter can register and vote at one of Champaign County’s vote centers between now and November 8th.
Disclaimer: Until recently, Trent Chassy has had a professional relationship with County Clerk Aaron Ammons in his capacity as an intern for the Clerk’s office. Trent also supports the Champaign County Democrats as a volunteer and as a private citizen.
Trent Chassy
Prospectus Editor
