West End townships prepare to hold elections, annual meetings

Cook County’s West End townships have elections on March 12, immediately preceding their annual meetings. The townships of Lutsen, Schroeder, and Tofte will all have polling open in the hours leading up to their meetings for in-person voting. Cook County Elections Director Cortnee Bernier told WTIP that residents who are unable to vote on March 12 can request an absentee ballot from their township clerks.

For Lutsen voters, Supervisor Lollie Cooper told WTIP that there is only one contested race. Supervisor Chris Homyak is up for re-election against challenger Stacy Pelto. Cooper said that she was glad to see a competitive election. She said, “I just think it’s a good thing when we have choices for our people. So that I like that somebody stepped forward.” Incumbent Clerk Sam McQuatters-Spangle is also running for re-election, though she is unopposed.

In Schroeder, Supervisor Bruce Martinson is running unopposed, but the Schroeder Clerk race failed to attract any candidates. Tina McKeever, a Schroeder Town Supervisor, said that the difficulty of recruiting candidates for the clerk role has spurred the board to add a resolution to the ballot. The resolution would change the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer roles to appointed positions. When asked about the clerk seat, McKeever said, “We decided as a board to make that an appointed position. And that way we can go outside of our township limits, and we do have some candidates for that.”

Tofte residents will see three positions on their ballots, Supervisor, Treasurer, and Clerk. None of the Tofte races are contested.

For more information on the township races and annual meetings, visit the websites for Lutsen, Shroeder, and Tofte.

Kirsten Wisniewski March 6, 2024