Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor endorses municipal candidates committed to McLean Co Working Families.
On Wednesday, Feb 3, 2021, the Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly (BNTL), the Central Labor Council of the IL AFL-CIO representing nearly 4,000 organized workers in the region held a 2021 Municipal Candidates Forum via Zoom ahead of issuing endorsements in the following races. The Forum was also Livestreamed on Facebook and had over 700 views as of Thursday afternoon.
To take part in the Forum, candidates completed a lengthy questionnaire created by our members on the issues that matter to us. Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor sent their candidate questionnaire to thirty six candidates* in January. Twenty-five candidates submitted their responses for our review, and twenty-three made it a priority of their campaign to join the Membership for our BNTL Zoom Forum. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=3696037150509756&ref=watch_permalink
We encourage the general public to view for themselves what we expect of our elected leaders and what kinds of responses detailing candidates’ experiences and commitments contribute to earning an endorsement from our members.
In the Forum, Candidates each had 3 minutes to present on the following prompt: What will you commit to doing in your elected position to demonstrate solidarity with our membership and exercise best judgement when it comes to the economic and social impact issues we asked of you in our questionnaire?
“Thank you to all the candidates who took the time to complete our Candidate Questionnaire and those who spoke to our membership on February 3rd. We recognize that COVID has not created the ideal circumstances for electoral engagement, so we appreciate what they provided to the members. The candidates we endorsed best reflect Organized Labors’ values, and we look forward to helping them win their seats of government so they can get to work improving the lives of all working families across McLean Co.” - Adam Heenan, Vice President, BNTL.
To that end we ask our members and the general public cast a ballot for the following candidates, donate to their campaigns, & volunteer to help Get Out The Vote leading up to the April 6th election:
Bloomington Mayor: Jaclyn “Jackie” Gunderson
Normal Mayor: Chris Koos
Bloomington Ward 1: Jamie Mathy
Bloomington Ward 3: Willie Holton Halbert
Bloomington Ward 5: Patrick Lawler
Bloomington Ward 7: Mary “Mollie” Ward Also Feb 23 Ward 7 primary
Bloomington Ward 9: Tom Crumpler
Normal Town Council (in no particular order): Kevin McCarthy, Brad McMillan, and Chemberly Cummings
Normal Township Supervisor: Sarah Grammer
Normal Township Clerk: Pat Turner
Normal Township Trustees: Arlene Hosea, Dayna Schickedanz, Sally Pyne, Mary Wurhmann
Heartland Board of Trustees: Catrina Parker & Joshua Crockett
Furthermore, in our endorsements for local school boards, we’d like to thank the IL Education Association for their input regarding the following School Board candidates we endorse:
District 87: Brigette Beasley Gibson, Chuck Irwin, & Elizabeth Fox Anvick
Unit 5: Kentrica Coleman, Stan Gozur, & Ericka Ralston
Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly is committed to advocating on the issues of most importance to our nearly 4,000 AFL-CIO members in our region which includes economic and civic justice, & political priorities that reflect the Common Good.
