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Live election coverage: Do Peoria voters favor incumbents? Recent trends say they do. Journal Star staff
5:50 p.m.
Generally speaking, modern-day Peoria s city elections have favored incumbents in office. Since 2001, there have been 52 seats up for election between at-large seats and district seats (that includes two unexpired terms for at-large seats in 2017). Only five sitting council members have been defeated over that time:
In 2005: 2nd District Councilwoman Marcella Teplitz lost to Barbara Van Auken.
In 2005: 3rd District Councilwoman Gale Thetford lost to Bob Manning. (She s seeking to reclaim the seat in today s balloting.)
In 2013: 2nd District Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken lost to Chuck Grayeb.
12:00 pm UTC Mar. 17, 2021
PEORIA Melvin Sanders Sr. seeks hometown redemption.
As a gang chief during the 1980s and 1990s, Sanders beleaguered Peoria with drugs and violence. Awash in booze and drugs, he left town about two decades ago to chase a woman, but instead found Jesus.
But even amid his spiritual salvation, old sins exacted a heavy price. Two adult sons were shot to death in Peoria, while a third recently was charged in a gunshot slaying. In the aftermath, Sanders readily recognizes the role he played in breeding mayhem on the streets of Peoria.
“God told me I’m reaping what I’ve sewn,” the 53-year-old Sanders says. “ … I’m getting what I’ve done to other people.”