There should be no guesswork in the voting booth (or when filling out a mail-in ballot). 

There has been a surge of interest in serving on local boards. More candidates are running for Homewood and Flossmoor village and school boards than in any election in recent memory. That means voters have more homework to do in order to make informed decisions.

Candidates have been working hard to reach voters, going door-to-door, holding meet-and-greet events, participating in forums, distributing campaign literature, posting policy positions and qualifications online. 

But it’s tough for candidates to shake every hand in a village or district, so the Chronicle’s mission is to amplify those efforts and make sure voters who can’t make it to campaign events still have a chance to see and hear candidates explain their goals and priorities. 

Since 2017, we have created voter guides. Since 2021, the guide has included video interviews and was dubbed Meet the Candidates. (Note: All election 2025 preview content is free, no subscription required.) 

This year, we have produced 40 videos, including one-on-one or small group interviews, League of Women Voters forums and forums held by two Flossmoor neighborhood associations, Ballantrae and Heather Hill. We owe a big thanks to Marcellus Marsh and Keimanie Rush of Bionic Content and Anthony Reynoso and Charley Dieringer of H-F High School for their videography work.

Meet the Candidates

Although not every candidate on the ballot is represented in video, we invited everyone we could reach to contribute a profile. We also wrote brief candidate introductions for several of the more competitive races. Profiles and stories appeared in our March 1 print edition and on our website.

We hope you’ll find time between now and Tuesday, April 1, to take a look at this year’s Meet the Candidates stories, profiles and videos. Get to know your candidates before you choose who will lead our local government organizations for the next few years.

We should also have a round of applause for the candidates on the ballot. They stepped up. It costs a lot of time, money and energy to run for office, and after having met most of the H-F candidates, I can assure you we have thoughtful, talented people who care about their community.

Turnout?

I’m eager to see how many voters cast ballots in this election. Local elections are notoriously low-turnout, but this time, we have some exciting races, and that might make a difference.

The question, though, is how much difference exciting races will make. In Dolton, for example, 17.62% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2021 Democratic primary election. Tiffany Henyard was elected with 1,001 votes, or a little more than 34%.

After four years of turmoil, allegations, investigations, a citizens recall vote, dysfunction and a whole cottage industry of YouTube influencers giving her controversial leadership nationwide reach, the turnout in the 2025 Democratic primary was a little over 27%. Challenger Jason House received nearly 88% of the vote.

That’s a big jump in turnout, but considering the extraordinary amount of attention on that race and the high stakes for the future of the village, it is alarming that almost 75% of the registered voters gave it a miss. 

Will H-F do better?