With over 49 percent of the vote, Ann Tennes has won the village of Skokie’s mayoral election, held on April 1. According to the Cook County clerk’s website, all 38 village precincts reported their results, and 12,110 ballots were cast in all, with a total turnout of just over 26 percent. Tennes’ opponents David “Azi” Lifsics and Charles Marbena Isho received roughly 38 percent and 12 percent of the vote, respectively. 

Tennes made her run for mayor after having been the village’s director of marketing and communications from 1998 to 2023. Per her campaign website, she has served in a variety of other roles within Skokie, including as a board member and later chairman of the Skokie Community Foundation, as the Marketing Task Force Leader for the Skokie Chamber of Commerce, and as a trustee on the board of Oakton Community College. Prior to working for Skokie, she was the commissioner and later the chairperson of the Park Ridge Zoning Board of Appeals. 

Senior Will Sterbenc, a Tennes supporter, had been confident in Tennes’ chances prior to the election. “She did by far the most public outreach, at least in my area, outside of those internet ads that Azi did. That, combined with just not showing much on the website for [Isho] made my choice as well as my prediction of how it would go.” When it came to what he was expecting under Tennes’ leadership, Sterbenc said he hoped that the village’s rat troubles would be resolved, and that more jobs would be added to Skokie. “Hopefully,” he said, “Paying Skokie employees more would help do that, which is always helpful for people who are nearby us.”

Neither Ms. Tennes nor Mr. Lifsics responded to requests for comment in time for publication. Mr. Isho could not be reached for comment.