April 4th brings another round of municipal elections in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. You can find these races and more information over on the Mayoral Races page. But one race, in particular, I want to turn all our attention to, that is Couri Thomas running for Mayor in Peoria City, Illinois.
Couri is a political newcomer but he came in second in the February 28th primary and is now facing current Mayor Jim Ardis on April 4th, 2017. Jim Ardis, you may remember cost the city of Peoria $125,000 after a lawsuit was brought against the city after police raided the home of Jon Daniel's who was running a parody twitter account of the mayor. Yes the current Mayor of Peoria City, Jim Ardis, had the police raid a citizen's home because of a parody twitter account.
Some background numbers on Peoria city and county.
Peoria County - 2016 Presidential Race:
*Hillary Clinton - 38,060
Donald Trump - 35,633
Congressional District 17 (pres-by-cd):
*Hillary Clinton - 18,061
Donald Trump - 9,356
Congressional District 18 (pres-by-cd):
Hillary Clinton - 19,999
*Donald Trump - 26,277
Peoria County - 2012 Presidential Race:
*Barack Obama - 40,209
Mitt Romney - 36,774
Peoria City - 2012 Presidential Race:
*Barack Obama - 25,721
Mitt Romney - 19,193
Peoria City and County does vote democratic but Jim Ardis has either not faced an opponent or has easily won. This is the year we need to change that. This is the election we can flip the Mayor's seat blue.
Couri Thomas is the son of Rev. Cleveland Thomas, pastor of the New Morning Star in Peoria and works as the Peoria Area Food Bank Warehouse Supervisor.
Peoria County Democrats are supporting Couri Thomas and people are starting wake up to the potential of this race. This race needs to be all hands on deck. Let's donate and if you live there start knocking on doors for the campaign. You can contact the campaign through his website which is linked down below.
