The crowded field running for board seats in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 this spring was whittled by one candidate Thursday morning, as the Cook County Officers Electoral Board sustained an objection against the paperwork of Anita Opdycke, knocking her off the ballot for the April 1 consolidated general election.
Thursday’s meeting, held at the Cook County Administration Building, 69 W. Washington St. in Chicago, brought an end to objections to Opdycke and fellow candidates Peter Bogira and Brandon Utter. All three were filed by resident and digital campaign contractor Neal Weingarden in November and asserted that paperwork deficiencies should disqualify the candidates from the ballot:
- Bogira for failing to file his statement of economic interests, which was due by the end of the filing period at 5 p.m. on Nov. 25;
- Utter for not being a registered voter at the home address he listed in his paperwork; and
- Opdycke for failing to file her statement of candidacy with her other paperwork.
After initial hearings in December, hearings officer Barbara Goodman issued recommendations on each case, finding that Bogira and Utter should remain on the ballot while Opdycke should be removed. The board, made up of designees of the county clerk, state’s attorney and circuit court clerk, heard these recommendations from a county staffer and upheld each while working quickly though 31 different cases on their agenda for determination.
A ‘novel issue’ for school code
None of the candidates was present, though attorneys Ed Mullen and Jeff Smith were present to respectively represent Weingarden and Utter. Bogira’s objection was dismissed due to his statement being filed on time, and in Utter’s case, Goodman and the board found that the state’s school code only requires candidates be registered to vote at the address they filed under by Election Day, not the day they filed.
Since both Utter’s old and current address are within the district’s boundaries, the board overruled the objection, allowing Utter to stay on the ballot. Speaking to the media later, Mullen described it as a “novel issue” in terms of interpreting the school code’s election provisions separately from other local elected offices. Weingarden confirmed Thursday evening that he doesn’t plan to appeal the board’s decision to the Cook County Circuit Court, and declined to comment further.
Opdycke’s lack of a statement of candidacy was disqualifying, even with her last name being misspelled in the objection filing, and her name will not appear on the April 1 ballot. She did not respond to a written request for comment Thursday evening.
After the board’s rulings on the three cases, Smith described the process as a “primer on the pitfalls” of running for office. He said it’s “a shame” Opdycke was disqualified, “but it’s part of the process.”
“The law matters,” Smith said. “Not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law.”
Residents can still file to to run as write-in candidates through Thursday, Jan. 30. More information on the 2025 elections can be found on the county clerk’s website.
County electoral board disqualifies one District 65 candidate, keeps two others on the ballot is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.