On Tuesday, all three Proviso Together candidates won their bids for reelection to the Proviso Township High Schools District 209 school board — holding off tough challenges from a slate that shared a nearly identical name and a lone unaffiliated candidate who hauled in more money than both slates.
Proviso Together members Theresa Kelly, Claudia Medina and Nathan “Ned” Wagner garnered 22 percent, 20 percent and 18 percent of the vote, respectively. Their challengers running on the Proviso United slate — Beverly Robertson, Laighton Scott and Denard Wade — garnered 11 percent, 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Sandy Aguirre, who was running alone, garnered 10 percent of the vote. Aguirre raised more than $16,000 during the race — $15,000 of which came from political committees connected to Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico.
In the weeks and months ahead of the election, Aguirre stressed that her ties to the mayor — who sustained close connections to D209 contractors before they were ousted by the Proviso Together candidates after the party won a supermajority on the board in 2017 — were based on mutual concerns about the state of the district’s schools.
Proviso Together candidates, however, said that Aguirre’s backing seemed eerily timed, considering that the district is poised to spend millions on facility improvements.
Proviso Together candidates could not be reached late Tuesday night for comment.
