From The Chairman
Congratulations to the Republican winners in the April 2023 Consolidated Election! We have a list all of the winners below. Thank you to all of you who voted in the Consolidated Election! As you’ll read below, there were 19,512 ballots case out of 165,386 registered voters in St. Clair County for just short of 12% turnout. Given that those elected in the Consolidated Election have a major impact on taxes in the County, we hope to see that turnout increase in the future.
It’s also time to put your foursome together for our 3rd Annual Chairman’s Golf Tournament on Friday, May 19th. Annie Fry, of 97.1 FM Talk, will once again be broadcasting from our event! Please see the article below for all of the details on the Chairman’s Golf Tournament!
Because of a discrepancy between the announced number of ballots cast in the 2022 General Election and the automated Cast Vote Record (CVR), we’re utilizing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to gather the details of the actual ballots cast in November 2022. At this point, the County has not been forthcoming so we’re asking you to consider submitting an identical FOIA request to ensure the County is completely transparent with their voting records. Please see the article below if you’re interested in supporting this effort.
Thanks for all you do in helping us turn St. Clair County red!
Cheryl Mathews
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St. Clair County Republican Party Core Values
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Congratulations To The Republican Winners In The 2023 Consolidated Election!
Of the 103 candidates with a record of voting in Republican primaries in St. Clair County, 77 won their races! That’s a win rate of 75%! Congratulations to all of the Republican candidates who won their races!
Mascoutah Councilman Michael L. Baker
Mascoutah Councilman John (Jack) Weyant
Mascoutah Councilman (2 Year Term) Walter (Wally) Battas
Belleville Alderman Ward 1 Lillian Schneider
Belleville Alderman Ward 3 Van “Scott” Ferguson
Fairview Heights Alderman Ward 3 Brenda Wagner
Fairview Heights Alderman Ward 5 Bill Poletti
Lebanon Alderman Ward 1 Charlie Witty
Lebanon Alderman Ward 3 Robert (Bob) Davis
O’Fallon Alderman Ward 2 Jessica Lotz
O’Fallon Alderman Ward 5 Aaron Hudson
O’Fallon Alderman Ward 6 Tom Vorce
O’Fallon Alderman Ward 7 Nathan Parchman
O’Fallon Alderman (2 Year Term) Ward 7 Eric Van Hook
Caseyville Trustee At Large Matt Modrovsky
Caseyville Trustee At Large John Buckley
Freeburg Trustee At Large Ramon Matchett, Jr.
Freeburg Trustee At Large Lisa Meehling
Lenzburg Trustee At Large Steven Schott
Marissa Trustee At Large Roy Dean Dickey
Marissa Trustee At Large Christopher Klingeman
Millstadt Trustee At Large Raymond Famula
Millstadt Trustee At Large Michael Capell
St. Libory Trustee At Large Joshua S. Stroder
St. Libory Trustee At Large Franklin M. Stroder, II
St. Libory Trustee At Large Justin Bolin
Shiloh Trustee At Large Julia Warchol
Shiloh Trustee At Large Kristine Northway
Shiloh Trustee At Large James Vernier
Summerfield Trustee At Large Sherry Ellison
Summerfield Trustee At Large Laura Litteken
Swansea Trustee At Large Brian Douglas Thouvenot
Swansea Trustee At Large Marilyn Neumeyer
Horner Park District At Large Melody Cornell
New Athens Park District At Large Larry Weber
New Athens Park District At Large Scott J. Harriss
New Athens Park District At Large Melinda Hewitt
Daugherty Library Trustee At Large Marlene Kolbe
Freeburg Library Trustee At Large Ronnie Stellhorn
Marissa Library Trustee (6 Year Term) At Large Douglas R. White
Marissa Library Trustee (6 Year Term) At Large Warren Trotter
Millstadt Library Trustee At Large Patricia French
Millstadt Library Trustee At Large Janice Seidlitz
New Athens Library Trustee At Large Deborah Politsch
Smithton Library Trustee At Large Elizabeth A. Harris
Smithton Library Trustee (2 Year Term) At Large Ann R. Hart
St. Clair County Regional Board of Education At Large Jason Madlock
New Athens Fire Protection District At Large Douglas Kinzinger
Kaskaskia Water District At Large Sheri Buettner
SWIC Trustee Subdistrict 2 Sean McPeak
SWIC Trustee Subdistrict 3 Steve Campo
SWIC Trustee Subdistrict 1 Tracy Vallett
Shiloh GSD 85 Kelly Waldrup
Shiloh GSD 85 Jennifer Edwards
O’Fallon CCSD 90 Rebecca Drury
O’Fallon CCSD 90 Rebecca Huller
William-Pontiac SD 105 Darren Wiseman
Wolf Branch SD 113 Douglas Gray
Belle Valley SD 119 Karen Kunz
Smithton SD 130 Dale Barschak
Millstadt SD 160 Gary Huwer
Millstadt SD 160 Matt Milton
Harmony-Emge GSD 176 Jeanie Wilson
Lebanon CUSD 9 Melissa Mitchell
Mascoutah SD 19 James Wolfe
Mascoutah SD 19 David Eidman
Marissa SD Peter Pannier
Marissa SD Dana Fritsche
New Athens SD Kristine Eckert
New Athens SD Katie Gallagher Main
Freeburg HSD Dean Gauch
Freeburg HSD Gary Henning
O’Fallon D203 Mark Christ
O’Fallon D203 Heather Lo Bue
Harmony-Emge GSD 176 Robert Philips
St. Libory SD Sarah Brandt
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Linda Thomas Is The Winner Of Our Election Judge Drawing For The 2023 Consolidated Election
Linda Thomas is the first winner of our new Election Judge Drawing. She will receive a gift card.
To participate in the Drawing, Election Judges must work in a precinct where we’ve traditionally struggled to place Republican Election Judges.
If you’re interested in acting as an Election Judge in one of these tough-to-fill precincts in the future, please contact Cheryl Mathews, Party Chairman, at chairman@scilgop.com.
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3rd Annual Chairman’s Golf Tournament – May 19, 2023
Please join Annie Frey, from 97.1 FM Talk (https://anniefreyshow.com), and the St. Clair County Republican Party on Friday, May 19th at Tamarack Golf Course for our 3rd Annual Chairman’s Golf Tournament, sponsored by Lou Fusz Motorsports. Tickets are $320 for a foursome or $80 for an individual and include greens fees, cart, chicken dinner, range balls, and drink tickets. Contests will include longest drive, closest to the pin, and hole-in-one – a hole-in-one wins you a side-by-side! Sponsorships are available.
We will also be conducting a Canned Food Drive benefiting the Catholic Urban Programs (CUP) Food Pantry located in East St Louis. Canned goods can be turned in during registration on Golf Day. Please support this worthwhile effort.
Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased on our website at Chairman’s Golf Tournament. We hope to see you on the links!
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St. Clair County 2023 Consolidated Election Results As Of April 12, 2023 (excluding East St Louis) – By Darwin Miles
A “total” of 19,512 ballots were cast in the 2023 Consolidated Election, which equals an 11.79% turnout of registered voters (19,512 of 165,386 registered voters). The County’s Platinum Election Website rounded up the 11.79% to 12%.
The total number of Prior Election Day (PED1) ballots were comprised of a combination of 6,361 Vote-by-Mail (VBM)* ballots, along with an additional total of 629 Early Voting (EV) ballots cast at the Court House prior to election day. This results in a grand total of 6,990 ballots cast “prior” to Election Day, via these methods (VBM+EV), which equals 32.6% of all ballots cast in the 2023 Consolidated Election.
Post Election Day (PED2) ballots and Provisional (P) ballots were counted at the Courthouse on April 12th. A total of 1,018 ballots were judged that day. However, 91 of these were Drop Box (DB) ballots received on Election Day via the Courthouse’s outside Drop Box, but not counted until April 12th. The majority of the PED2 ballots were received post April 4th via US Mail, which we are still investigating, because the US Postal Service in St Clair County rarely date stamps the envelops. The only thing we can be assured of is that all PED2 Certification Envelopes, were dated on or before April 4th, as judged by the Courthouse Election Judges.
ELECTION DAY AND POST ELECTION DAY BALLOTS
19,512 Total ballots Cast
-6,990 Prior Election ballots Cast
12,522 Election Day ballots and Post Election Day
ballots counted as of April 12, 2023
*The total of the VBM ballots included the 362 Courthouse Drop Box (DB) ballots
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County Board News for March 2023 – By Phil Henning, County Board District 19
1. The County Board approved a zoning variance to allow a State License Residential Treatment Facility for Persons with Mental Disabilities in a RR-1 and SR-2 rural and single-family zone at 66th Street in Belleville. This takes an existing Oblates of Mary Catholic retreat and transfers to a private investor firm that operates mental health facilities in other states. The facility is for private pay patients and will not offer drug rehabilitation. There will be less traffic from the new facility than the previous use as a retreat and conference center.
2. Amanda Warma was approved by the County Board and sworn in as the third member of the Board of Review. She is the second replacement this year due to the appointment of Michael Crockett as the St Clair County Recorder and for Kinnis Williams being elected as the St Clair Circuit Clerk both who held positions on the Board of Review. Mrs. Warma was a schoolteacher and is a Title Officer with Town and Country Title in Swansea.
3. The County Board approved an extensive Memorandum of Understanding between the St Clair Sheriff’s Department and the 375th Security Forces Squadron on mutual law enforcement issues and handling of civilian offenders on Scott Air Force Base. The Agreement was reviewed by legal officials and replaces an outdated agreement.
4. The County Board approved a multi-year contract with JANO Incorporated to install a new software program called Clericus Magnus for the Circuit Clerk’s office to replace an outdated court record system. It brings the county into compliance with new state criminal and civil case reporting system.
5. Mr. Herbert Simmons, Emergency Services Director for St Clair County reported that new sirens have been installed in areas without existing coverage and that the new electronic weather warning sirens will be installed in the remainder of the county through the end of 2023. They also have a feature to broadcast local voice messages as well to the appropriate coverage area.
6. Planning for the May Air Show at Scott Air Force Base continues between St Clair County officials and officials at Scott Air Force Base. This year’s show features the Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
7. The County did not exceed the recommended daily population of the Juvenile Detention program with an average population of 38.
8. 427 applications were received to be included in the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) which were submitted to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The next step is to hire an appraiser for each property.
9. The Sheriff’s department reported an average of 455 inmates on a daily basis. 422 inmates were admitted which 103 were females, 319 males, with 120 misdemeanor charges, 200 felons, 6 federal prisoners, 76 fugitives, 5 weekend sentence bookings, 3 county sentence bookings, 3 awaiting transfer to IDOC and 9 “others.” I researched similar populated counties, and our average jail population of 455 “per capita” against our 252,000 population is about average. Bear in mind that not all inmates are residents of St Clair County.
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The Republican Women’s Club Of St. Clair County Invites All Republican Women To Attend Their Monthly Meetings
The Republican Women’s Club of St. Clair County meets on the first Monday of each month at Eckert’s Restaurant on Greenmount Road and Rt.177 in Belleville. Supper and fellowship begin at 6PM, and the meeting starts at 7PM.
Please join us as we work together, have fun, and share information in a positive setting. You will meet fellow Republicans, Republican candidates, and Republican elected officials at our meetings and gain valuable knowledge on important issues related to St. Clair County.
For more info, please contact Mary Thurman, President, by phone at 618-550-5751 or via email at mompower49@hotmail.com.
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Why Submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Election Records?
The citizens of St. Clair County have a Right to election records, and we need more St. Clair County Republican Party members to request election records from the 2022 General Election! We have good cause for concern given the discrepancy between the announced number of ballots cast in the 2022 General Election and County’s automated Cast Vote Record (CVR). Given this discrepancy, we must demand transparency from our public servants who are charged with conducting elections.
As public servants, Illinois County Clerks take an oath (55 ILCS 5/3-2002) to run accurate elections and to ensure the election results reflect the will of the people in their respective townships. The taxpayers of St. Clair County pay for elections; therefore, election records are public, and citizens have the right to request election records in accordance with Federal (5 U.S.C. § 552) and State (5 ILCS 140) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Laws. 52 U.S.C. Section 21081 (a)(2)(A), requires a “voting system shall produce a record with an audit capacity”. There are no stipulations in the Illinois Constitution, Election Code, or other state legislation that prohibits public audit of election records. In accordance with 5 ILCS 140 Section 1.2., “All records in the custody or possession of a public body are presumed to be open to inspection or copying” and “any public body that asserts that a record is exempt from disclosure has the burden of proving clear and convincing evidence that it is exempt”. Additionally, the county clerk shall have the care and custody of all records which shall be open to the inspection of all persons without reward (55 ILCS 5/3-2012).
Unfortunately, the St. Clair County States Attorney’s Office, County Clerk, and the county’s election system/software contractors have not been forthcoming on 2022 General Election Record FOIA requests in accordance with Illinois FOIA Law. Around March 14, 2023, several St. Clair County Republican Party members and citizens of the county requested the Cast Vote Record (CVR) containing the 84,282 ballots tabulated in the 2022 General Election and the Ballot Manifest Report. Neither contains voter-identity-bearing information and does not qualify for exemption under 5 ILCS 140 Section 7. Therefore, St. Clair County MUST provide the CVR containing the 84,282 ballots tabulated in the 2022 General Election or cite a specific state or county statute upon which the denial is based. We have yet to receive these documents.
Please help us fight for election transparency and integrity by filing additional FOIA requests for this information. These requests can be made via three simple steps which can be found on our website.
If you have questions or need assistance in submitting a FOIA request, please contact Doug Gaines at drgaines@outlook.com.
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Petition Circulation For The 2024 Presidential Election Starts In Five Months!
Candidates running for office in the 2024 Presidential Election will begin circulating petitions in early September 2023 with the signed petitions being due in late November 2023. Republican candidates are needed for the following offices:
US House of Representatives
IL 13th Congressional District
IL State House of Representatives
IL State 112th Legislative District
IL State 113th Legislative District
St. Clair County Countywide Positions
County Chairman
State’s Attorney
Coroner
Circuit Clerk
Auditor
County Recorder
Board of Review (x2)
St. Clair County Board Districts
District 1
District 6
District 7
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 16
If you’re interested in running for one of these offices, please contact Michael Butler, our Vice-Chairman for Elections, at elections@scilgop.com.
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IL State Senator Terri Bryant’s Response To Chicago Mayor-Elect Johnson’s Presentation To The IL General Assembly
“I truly hope to see the City of Chicago one day return to being the great and proud city it once was; however, we cannot get there by throwing money at the City’s problems.
The Mayor-elect’s talking points were nothing more than progressive propaganda. There is no real plan to prevent the growing rampant violent crime in the streets or to bring and keep businesses within the city and state.
Until the newly elected Mayor can prove that he can get his own house in order, the Illinois General Assembly should not be giving him an amplified platform to push his agenda, especially when others throughout the state haven’t been afforded that opportunity.”
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St. Clair County Republican Party 2023 Sustaining Membership
At our recent 2023 Lincoln Day Gala, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy congratulated the St. Clair County Republican Party for flipping the Illinois 56th State Senate District seat to Erica Conway Harriss and the Illinois 114th State House District seat to Kevin Schmidt. St. Clair County was one of the few places in Illinois where Republicans made gains at the state level in the 2022 Midterm Elections. In St. Clair County, we had the strongest slate of candidates on the ballot in our Party’s recent history with candidates for all but one countywide position and all but three County Board seats. We came very close to flipping three countywide positions and winning new County Board seats.
In large part, these successes were attributable to the financial support that we received in 2022 from Republicans in St. Clair County. That support allowed us to host monthly Candidate Table events across the County in order to introduce our local candidates to County voters. We also hosted Illinois Governor and US Senate Forums to introduce our statewide candidates to voters in southern Illinois. Donations allowed us to mail out tens of thousands of voter education cards to County voters to ensure they knew the Republicans running for office at the County and State levels. Our new website, stclaircountyrepublicans.com, was built with funds donated by County Republicans.
As we look ahead to the 2024 Presidential Election, we have a lot of work to do in 2023 to prepare for the 2024 Presidential Election. Our goal is straightforward, we want to increase the number of votes for Republican candidates from St. Clair County voters in order to win seats at the County, State, and National levels. Specifically, we will be focused on creating an effective Vote By Mail (VBM) program in St. Clair County, on expanding our outreach to independent and soft Democrat voters in St. Clair County, and on broadly communicating our Republican value proposition.
In order to ensure we’re able to accomplish these goals, please consider becoming a 2023 Sustaining Member of the St. Clair County Republican Party. Our website’s Sustaining Membership Page describes our nine different Sustaining Membership levels and the gifts associated with each.
We’re making progress in St. Clair County. However, we have much more to do to stop the attack on our southern Illinois values from Chicago Democrats. We can do this if we work together and stand for what we believe. Thanks for your continued support in turning St. Clair County red!
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Do You Have Information That Is Of Interest To Our Members?
If so, please send it to us at marketing@scilgop.com so that can publish it in an upcoming issue of the St. Clair County Republican Party Membership Newsletter.
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