Filing period to begin for spring election

The new election season officially begins Monday when candidates for municipal, school, park, library and fire district offices in DuPage County begin filing their nominating petitions for spots on the April 4 ballot.

Most of the hopefuls must submit their paperwork with the governmental entity they want to represent, although school board candidates will take their documents to the DuPage County Election Commission office in Wheaton.

The weeklong filing period ends at 5 p.m. Dec. 19.

In the meantime, several key mayoral races already appear to be taking shape.

Longtime Warrenville Mayor David Brummel, for example, likely will face at least one opponent in his bid for a fourth term. Brummel said he's expecting Michael Hoffmann, the city council member he defeated in 2013, to make another attempt to become mayor.

Brummel said he's seeking re-election because he loves Warrenville and enjoys working with the city's employees and elected officials.

"I get to be involved with things going forward that are very positive and will be here after I'm gone," Brummel said. "There's the potential to leave my community a better place than I found it. I find that to be very satisfying."

In Bensenville, the resignation of Village President Frank Soto to take a state job has resulted in at least two village trustees expected to vie for the town's top elected position.

Soto said trustees Henry Wesseler and Frank DeSimone are planning to run for village president. Wesseler has been a trustee since 2009; DeSimone was elected in April 2015.

With Roselle Mayor Gayle Smolinski stepping down after more than two decades, there also should be a great deal of interest in that post.

That probably won't be the case in Glen Ellyn, where Village President Alex Demos is sticking to a time-honored tradition in the village by voluntarily stepping down after just one term. The village's Civic Betterment Party has picked Diane McGinley, a former trustee, to run for the village president seat.

Other candidates can run against Civic Betterment nominees by submitting nominating petitions with the village clerk's office during the filing period, but the party's candidates almost always go on to win.

The list of mayors and village presidents expected to seek re-election includes Addison's Rich Veenstra, Bloomingdale's Franco Coladipietro, Glendale Heights' Linda Jackson, Itasca's Jeff Pruyn, Lisle's Joe Broda, Lombard's Keith Giagnorio, Oakbrook Terrace's Tony Ragucci, West Chicago's Ruben Pineda and Winfield's Erik Spande. Villa Park Village President Deborah Bullwinkel also is up for re-election.

The field for what may be the hottest of all the mayoral races already has been set, with five candidates currently on the ballot for a Feb. 28 primary election in Aurora.

Four of the candidates -- Linda Chapa LaVia, Rick Guzman, Richard Irvin and Mike Saville -- have been campaigning for the seat since Tom Weisner announced he would step down before the end of his third term due to health concerns. The fifth mayoral candidate is Jose Luis Del Bosque.