The next Springfield City Council will have a drastically different look, with voters choosing six newcomers to join four incumbents. Among the sitting council members, Sam Cahnman in Ward 5 lost to Andrew Proctor, ending Cahnman’s eight years as an alderman.
The newcomers are Chuck Redpath (who previously served as an alderman from 1987 to 2007) in Ward 1, Herman Senor in Ward 2, John Fulgenzi in Ward 4, James Donelan in Ward 9 and Ralph Hanauer in Ward 10.
Re-elected incumbents were Joe McMenamin in Ward 7 and Kris Theilen in Ward 8.
The swearing-in of the new mayor and council will likely take place later this month or in May. Mayor-elect Jim Langfelder will make that determination.
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Ward 7
Incumbent McMenamin beat out two challengers, Sarah Delano Pavlik and Michael Higgins, Tuesday to retain his Ward 7 seat.
McMenamin had 1,586 votes compared with Pavlik’s 1,151 and Higgins’ 964. That’s a margin of 43 percent to 31 percent to 26 percent. “Thank you Ward 7 for your trust and confidence,” McMenamin said.
McMenamin said he is not a yes person, and he added that his relationship with the voters is more important that how he gets along with other council members. McMenamin, 62, is an attorney in private practice. He’s represented Ward 7 for the past four years and has 30 years in the Illinois Army National Guard, including three years as an enlisted soldier and three overseas assignments.
Republicans backed Pavlik, and Democrats backed Higgins.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 