Park District Write-in Candidate Raked in Fourth Ward Votes

Jason Amos has never run for political office, but this year he decided to run for Chicago Heights park district commissioner of the fourth ward against current park district president Joseph P. Stanfa.

Amos was removed from the ballot for petition issues and Stanfa won with 832 unofficial votes, but Amos still has reason to be proud of his first run as a write-in candidate.

He has 275 reasons, to be exact. That's the number of unofficial votes the Cook County Clerk's office says went to a fourth ward "write-in," raking in nearly 25 percent of the votes.

"I’m a write-in and to get that many votes, I think I did pretty well," Amos said, adding that staying visible may have helped him in the race. "I’ve always been active in the community. Just going out and talking to people."

Amos said his active campaign strategy came from watching outgoing Fourth Ward Ald. Joseph Faso, who lost the mayoral race to David Gonzalez.

"I’ve known Joey since I was a kid," Amos said. "I saw the way he handled the neighborhoods. He talks to people. At the fourth ward meetings, I would see 60 to 70 people from the fourth ward. I looked at how he did things."

Some voters, Amos added, seemed to change their minds based on having a conversation with him.

"There was one guy that was going to vote for my competition and he said, 'I don’t know you but I’m glad you came to my door and listened to what I said,'" Amos remembered.

Art Wiggins, who ran as a write-in candidate for First Ward Alderman, received just 67 unofficial votes in a loss to incumbent Willie White. Wiggins said he believes the touch-screen write-in process is more difficult for older voters, leading to a lower likely-hood of write-in candidates getting votes.

"We had some serious flaws in our election," Wiggins said. "A lot of the old timers understand write-in to be just that. Give me a piece of paper and let me write-it in."

Amos said his expectations in the election weren't high but he was surprised to hear the results, adding that he hopes the winners will make positive changes in the Heights.

"Obviously I knew I wasn't going to win, but I was hoping for it," Amos said. "I wish them [the winning candidates] the best. I hope their going to do something for Chicago Heights."