School board races set in Montgomery County

HILLSBORO — The filing period for submitting completed nominating papers and petitions for school board candidates in Montgomery County and its four main school districts to the county clerk’s office ended on Monday, Nov. 18, according to County Clerk Sandy Leitheiser.

Hillsboro

Three seats are up on April 1 in the Hillsboro school district. Four candidates filed petitions for this election. They include Bill Christian and Nathan Kirby from Hillsboro Township, Kassie Greenwood of Irving Township, and Matthew Jones of Butler Grove Township.

Kirby was appointed to the school board in 2020 and then elected into office the following year, while Greenwood is concluding her first term in office. Board member John Lentz did not file for re-election.

Litchfield

In Litchfield, three seats are up on the school board. Incumbents Julie Abel and Ron Anglin of South Litchfield Township filed the petitions.

They will be joined by newcomer Mandy Jewell of North Litchfield Township.

As the three seats are uncontested, Abel, Anglin, and Jewell will attain victory this spring.

Nokomis

Four board seats are up for contention, but there won’t be much contention, as only four candidates filed for those seats.

They include Steve Janssen of Fillmore Consolidated, Denny Bauman of Nokomis Township, Carl Kettelkamp of Greenwood Township, and Michael Gillock of Rountree Township.

Janssen, Bauman, and Kettelkamp are incumbents, while Gillock will be a new face on the school board.

As there are no other candidates, all four will be victorious on April 1.

Panhandle

Three seats in the Panhandle School District are up this upcoming spring, and it appears that the three incumbents who filed will remain in office for another four years.

Those incumbents include Gabe Pope of Raymond Township and Gretchen Rovey and Scott Cowdrey of Pitman Township.

Limitations on township representation in Montgomery County

Leitheiser reminds voters that according to state law, based on their current membership not up for election, these school districts have a limit on the number of school board members who can be elected from each congressional township and these guidelines must be used to declare those elected to school board member seats. Important instructions about this limitation will be placed on the official ballots for each school district, and voters are encouraged to read these instructions before voting.

However, as of Friday, nothing is currently known as to whether there are any conflicts regarding a township surpassing such representative limitation.

Other Montgomery County races in the April 1 consolidated election

In addition to the school board elections, the April 1 consolidated election will also elect officers in municipalities (excluding Coffeen, Hillsboro, and Nokomis), townships, park and library districts, educational service regions, community college districts, and if applicable, where officers are elected, fire districts. The filing period for those races also concluded on November 18. Petitioners needed to file with the local election body’s clerk or secretary.

Voters in the cities of Litchfield and Witt, as well as the villages of Butler, Coalton, Donnellson, Farmersville, Fillmore, Harvel, Irving, Ohlman, Panama, Raymond, Schram City, Taylor Springs, Waggoner, Walshville, and Wenonah will be able to elect their municipal leadership for the next four years.

Meanwhile, all positions at the township level will be determined next month at the party caucuses. However, some townships have foregone the caucus and opted for petition filing instead. This applies to all 18 of Montgomery County’s townships.

Voters in Litchfield, Nokomis, Pitman Township, and Raymond will elect park commissioners for their new term. Four commissioner seats are up in the Litchfield Park District, as well as three in the Nokomis Memorial Park District, one in the Pitman Township Park District, and one in the Raymond Park District.

Six library districts will hold elections for library trustees this spring. Two seats are available in the Doyle Public Library District. Four seats are available in the Farmersville-Waggoner Library District. Three seats are available in the Grand Prairie of the West Library District. Two seats each are available in the Hillsboro and Litchfield library districts.

The Nokomis Township Library District, however, has an interesting quandary for this upcoming election. The embattled library district seeks to fill six positions in this election. Two seats are for a full six-year term, while there are two four-year seats and two two-year seats. The four-year seats will be up in 2029, while the two-year seats will be up in 2027.

The library district’s current lone elected trustee was elected to the board in 2023. As of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, only three names were known as having filed: Margie Eisenbarth and Jake Leonard for the two six-year seats and Gina Brown for one of the two-year seats. No other candidates are known as of Friday evening.

In community college districts, while Lincoln Land Community College isn’t holding an election in 2025, several bordering community college districts will hold elections. They will include Kaskaskia College, Lake Land College, and Southwestern Community College.

Anyone seeking more information about the upcoming election cycle is encouraged to contact the county clerk’s office via their website at montgomerycountyil.gov, by email at [email protected], in person at their office located on the first floor of the Historic Courthouse in Hillsboro, or by phone at (217) 532-9530.

For more Montgomery County (IL) news, follow Ben Cox on Twitter @Cox4Liberty, and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter.

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Ben Cox

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Cox is a broadcast media and journalism veteran currently working as news director for WLDS/WEAI in Jacksonville, Ill. He is also chairman of the Morgan County Libertarian Party.

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