On Tuesday, WKEI spoke with Kewanee Mayor Gary Moore who is running for another term as Mayor. Mayor Moore has no opponent in the race and many were wondering: When was the last time someone ran unopposed for Mayor of Kewanee. Naturally, WKEI turned to our resident historian Dave Clark who tracked down the story. According to Dave, the last time Kewanee had an unopposed race for Mayor was 2011, when then Mayor Bruce Tossell was re-elected without opposition. From Dave’s research:
“He (Mayor Tossell) was actually elected to his first term as mayor in 2007 defeating incumbent Jim Burns 1,806 to 1,347. Tossell had served two years of a four-year term on the council when he ran for mayor, After he was elected, he appointed, and the council approved, the first Black person to be seated on the Kewanee City Council, Jean Blanks, to fill out the remaining two years of his term on the council. Mrs.Blanks resigned in August of 2008 when her job took her out of town. Tossell did not run for re-election to a third term in 2015 when Steve Looney defeated Kate Barton for mayor 1,390 to 666. There were 5 candidates for mayor that year so there was a primary. Looney did not run for re-election in 2015 when Gary Moore defeated Mike Yaklich 1,522 to 647 for mayor, The reason I’m up on my Jean Blanks history, is that the question of whether or not Tyrone Baker was the first Black person to serve on the council came up when he was elected, as you may remember. The difference is that Tyrone is the first elected, while Mrs. Blanks was the first to be seated.”
Election Day, even for those running unopposed, is set for April 4th, 2023. The last day to register to vote in Henry County is March 7th, 2023.
