The Lake Forest Caucus now has a full slate of endorsed school board candidates heading into the April 6, 2027 consolidated election after a special meeting was held Oct. 20 to replace two caucus committee-recommended candidates who previously failed to receive the endorsement of the full caucus.
Multiple candidates are typically not listed on Caucus meeting ballots — only those recommended by the caucus committee — and voters then choose “yes” or “no” on whether to endorse them.
Ryan Wiedmann, the caucus committee-recommended candidate for the Lake Forest School District 67 School Board, received 199 “yes” votes to 26 “no” votes. In contrast, Kent Novit, the recommended candidate for the Lake Forest Community High School District 115 School Board, garnered 205 “yes” votes versus 23 “no” votes, the Caucus reports.
Wiedmann and Novit replace on the Lake Forest Caucus slate two previously recommended candidates, Kristin Vallaly and Jennifer Neubauer, who received more “no” votes than “yes” votes at the Oct. 6 Caucus meeting.
Vallaly and Neubauer were not listed on the Oct. 20 ballot.
“Rather than running our original candidates for these positions against two new candidates, we are listening to and honoring the community’s original vote and we will recommend only one person for each open position, while remaining true to the Caucus Committee’s mission of advancing the individuals that we believe to be most qualified for the proposed positions,” a Caucus news release states.
“We sincerely thank the two original candidates, both neighbors, like all of us, who stepped forward to serve,” the release adds.
Vallaly and Neubauer were the subject of several emails opposing their candidacy for the school boards, including one from former state Sen. Susan Garrett.
“Our schools are a cornerstone of our community and we owe it to our students, residents, and taxpayers to seek qualified, level-headed, nonpartisan board members who will put students first,” wrote Garrett, who held office as a Lake County Democrat.
Garrett’s email included copies of other residents’ messages that expressed concern over alleged “extremist” views expressed by Vallaly and Neubauer that have since been deleted from social media.
The caucus responded with an email of its own headlined “We Pick People, Not Politics.”
“We ask about budgets, about how a candidate handles disagreement, and about why they want the job,” the caucus email states. “We do not ask how a candidate votes in November.”
Caucus President Scott Nehls defended that position.
“We’re not picking sides here — we’re picking great people,” Nehls said after the Oct. 6 vote. “There is not a litmus test — we have people on the left, people on the right, and people in the middle.”
More Top Picks Pool Vacuums
There were 1,126 cast at the Oct. 6 meeting compared to 228 on Oct. 20.
The caucus has been part of Lake Forest elections for 90 years and, historically, candidates who receive the caucus endorsement can expect to run unopposed in the consolidated election.
Along with Wiedmann and Novit, the rest of the Lake Forest Caucus-endorsed slate consists of the following candidates:
Lake Forest City Council
Mayor: Ara Goshgarian
Ward 1 Alderman: Pete Clemens
Ward 2 Alderman: John Powers
Ward 3 Alderman: Nick Bothfeld
Ward 4 Alderman: Richard Walther
District 67 School Board
Jay Connelly
Mark Pickett
Monica Yaun
District 115 School Board
Kirsten Kohlmeyer
John Noble
Andis Robeznieks is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.