Assyrian candidates field wins and losses in Chicago-area elections

Yasmeen Altaji | Apr. 5, 2023

Four of at least seven Assyrian-identifying candidates vying for seats in Cook County’s general elections claimed victory on Tuesday.

Cook County consolidated elections determine municipal offices, this year also including the Chicago mayor in a close race claimed by Democrat Brandon Johnson. According to the office of the Cook County Clerk, this year’s municipal elections saw just over a 13% voter turnout, down from about 15% in 2021.

Chicago-area-based civic engagement group Vote Assyrian, which operated as a corporation until early 2022, identified and campaigned for six of the seven known Assyrian candidates. Three of their six candidates won their respective races, with one unopposed.

Here are breakdowns of standings in each race in which an Assyrian candidate ran.

Atour Sargon

Village of Lincolnwood

Sargon secured her second term as a Trustee of the Village of Lincolnwood on Tuesday, securing just over 24% of votes. She ran as a member of Alliance for Lincolnwood, a local party that swept the three open seats on the village board of trustees.

Sargon said in a statement to Twitter, “I am honored to have the trust and confidence of the voters of Lincolnwood” and that “there is much work ahead.”

Ramsen Sheeno

Niles Township

The Baghdad-born candidate known widely in the Assyrian community for his singing career lost his run for a seat on the Niles Township District 219 (D219) School Board on Tuesday with only 10% of votes. Last year, D219 became the first public high school district in the US to approve an accredited Assyrian language course.

At a March 9 school board candidate forum, Sheeno expressed a need for improvement in sports programs, which “are lacking a few things,” he said, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. According to his campaign, his joint platform with incumbent David Ko included commitments to “safety and security” and “advancing equity in education and extracurricular programs”.

Ko secured a seat with nearly 14% of votes. 

Shamoon Ebrahimi

Des Plaines

A school counselor at the local Maine West High School and the incumbent candidate in this year’s aldermanic race in Des Plaines, a Chicago suburb, Ebrahimi lost his run for reelection as 8th Ward Alderman, having received just 35% of votes. He was appointed to the position in 2021 by Mayor Andrew Goczkowski, who had occupied the seat himself before becoming mayor.

Ebrahimi, who ran on a platform of expanding mental health resources and developing the city’s downtown area, was endorsed by the American Middle East Voters Alliance PAC.

Ebrahimi lost the race to longtime alderman Michael Charewicz, once appointed acting mayor of Des Plaines, in a trailing run.

Marryann Warda

Niles Township

The current middle school nurse secured a seat on the Niles Township Board of Trustees, running as a member of the Vision for Niles party with incumbents Dean Strzelecki and Craig Niedermaier. The three ran with support from Niles Mayor George Alpogianis, who was not up for reelection.

Warda, who was endorsed by the American Middle East Voters Alliance PAC, works as a school nurse at local Oliver McCracken Middle School. 

Ashur Shiba

Morton Grove

Morton Grove local and Executive Director of Vote Assyrian will continue in his post as a Morton Grove trustee. He ran unopposed. 

Shiba was appointed to the office by Morton Grove Mayor Dan DiMaria to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of a former trustee in November last year.

Christine Sojka

Skokie (Fairview School District)

An administrator at the pharmaceutical company Novartis and a mother of elementary school-aged children, Sojka secured the highest percentage of votes in her race to fill one of four seats on the Fairview Elementary School District 72 in Skokie, a village just outside of Chicago.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said three candidates had won. The first paragraph has been modified to reflect the four winning candidates listed in this story. Three, not four, of Vote Assyrian’s six candidates won seats.