Nominating petitions to run for Mayor and City Council in Salem and Centralia next April will be available beginning July 28th.
In Salem, Mayor Nic Farley and Councilmen Craig Morton and Royce Bringwald are up for re-election. In Centralia, Mayor Bryan Kuder, the four-year council terms of Barri Allen and Israel ‘Izzy’ Fontanez, along with the two-year unexpired term to which Tom Henegar was appointed, are all up for election.
Signed nominating petitions must be submitted to the city clerk’s office in either Salem or Centralia between October 18th and Monday, October 26th. A lottery will be held to determine first on the ballot if more than one candidate is on hand the first day petitions are filed. Also, those candidates filing simultaneously in the last hour on October 27th will be included in a lottery drawing to determine the final ballot position.
If there are five or more candidates for Mayor, nine or more for the four-year council seats, or five or more for the unexpired two-year term in Centralia, there will be a Tuesday, February 23rd primary. The Consolidated Election will be held on Tuesday, April 6th, 2027.
A candidate guide is expected to be available on the State Board of Elections website at elections.il.gov. All candidates should consult the guide, the Illinois State Board of Elections, and are also advised to obtain legal counsel regarding their qualifications for office and how to correctly circulate, complete, and file their petitions.
