17 running for District 65 board

You'll need a scorecard to keep track of all the candidates in next spring's election for the Evanston/Skokie District 65 Board of Education.

But you won't find any incumbents on that scorecard.

Joey Hailpern confirmed to Evanston Now on Monday night that he had not filed for re-election, making him the last of the four incumbents with expiring terms to say he's not trying for another.

Hailpern, a two-term board member, said he'll talk more about his decision in a week or so.

The three other incumbents whose terms are up, Donna Wang Su, Biz Lindsay-Ryan, and Soo La Kim had previously said that they're not going to run.

That means the four top vote-getters from an incredibly large 17-person field will make up a board majority which had nothing to do with approving the Foster (Fifth Ward) school, nothing to do with the current financial crisis, and no role in hiring the current superintendent, Angel Turner.

Considering all the problems facing the district, it would have been tough sailing for an incumbent to win again.

The other board members whose terms are not up, are Sergio Hernandez, Mya Wilkins, and Omar Salem (Salem was elected after the Foster School was OK'd).

The 17 candidates are as follows, in the order in which they filed their paperwork with the Cook County Clerk's Office.

Andrew Wymer; Christian Sorensen; Brandon Utter; Heather Vezner; Ezra Schevick; Chris Van Nostrand; Christopher DeNardo; Dan Kastilahn; Lionel Gentle; Daniel Lyonsmith; Nichole Pinkard; Anita Opdycke; Peter Bogira; Patricia S. Anderson; Randall Steckman; Maria Forris Opdycke; Kimberly Fair.

Those who filed at 8 a.m. on the first day possible, Tuesday the 11th, will be in a lottery for ballot spot #1. The three meeting that requirement are Wymer, Sorensen, and Utter. They'll get ballot places 1,2, and 3, depending on how the lottery turns out.

Maria Forris Opdycke and Kimberly Fair, who both filed at 4:13 pm on Monday the 18th (47 minutes before filing closed) will be in a coin flip for the last ballot spot.

While ballot placement may not seem like a big deal, some political experts say that being at or near the top of the ballot, or perhaps at the bottom, can be helpful in a large field race such as this one.

The spring election is on April 1.

Insert your own April Fool's Day joke here: _______________.