Three floor nominees best Caucus Council candidates for Park Board slate — but fourth winner walks out

A dramatic night unfolded on Thursday for Winnetka Park Board candidates and voters seeking direction from the Winnetka Caucus for the spring 2027 election.

During the annual Winnetka Caucus Council Town Hall fall session on Oct. 15, caucus members — any voting-age residents represented by Winnetka’s publicly-elected entities — backed three challengers to the Winnetka Caucus Council’s recommended Park Board slate.

The challengers, also known as floor nominees, were: Jon Kunkle, John Raith and appointed incumbent Commissioner David Seaman, who is seeking a full four-year term.

Residents also supported caucus-council-endorsed candidate Kurt Anstaett, but the status of his nomination is unclear after he announced, just as voting for the fourth and final seat was underway, that he was withdrawing from the race.

Caucus officials told The Record after the town hall that they would speak with Anstaett to confirm his withdrawal and determine next steps.

Kim Marsh, 2025 independent Park Board candidate Steve Juliusson and incumbent Commissioner Cynthia Rapp, seeking her second full four-year term, were also backed by the Caucus Council but did not earn full caucus support.

Candidates Make Their Case

Six of the seven candidates were present at the town hall. Marsh reportedly was out of town. Each candidate made a two-minute introductory statement, which was followed by a 30-minute Q&A.

Seaman, who said he was interviewed by the caucus council and reportedly was initially selected as an alternate, told the audience during the Q&A that he wanted the full caucus to decide who should be their nominees, which is why he was seeking a floor nomination.

“There is a bylaw that permits [the floor nominees] to be up here tonight,” he said. “I do believe it is better to have a few thousand people registered to vote rather than nine people on a committee that interviewed me for 25 minutes … so I do believe that this process here tonight is the right process, and it is the caucus process.”

Seaman also touted his experience on the Park Board, which includes two appointments — in 2020 and in 2025 — to fill vacancies.

“[That includes] meetings and conversations with consultants, engineers, experts, fellow board members, staff, self-study of course, exchanges with a vast number of community members,” Seaman said. “The relationships built are enormously valuable. I have listened and learned and I’m a better board member for it.”

Anstaett said that as a commissioner he would make sure that all residents’ concerns are heard. He believes that the public has not “been given a fair shake to be heard” by the incumbent Park Board.

“And I commit to make sure that I am totally approachable and the board becomes more friendly to people who want to come and talk about the issues and things that are of concern to them,” he said. “You can watch the videos and you can judge for yourself whether that’s been happening. I think some fresh voices are needed on the board, and … I feel very capable.”

Raith said he has “deep roots” in the community and has many friends with a “broad spectrum of interests.”

“Our experiences, what they can bring is responsibility, a sense of caring, deep caring to the community and park district, and a commitment to doing the work on behalf of all park constituents,” he said.

Juliusson, who ran independent of the caucus in 2025 but did not win a seat on the Park Board, said the park district shows “dysfunction.” In his introductory statement, he said he and the other caucus-backed candidates are not against discourse but will focus on the entire park district.

“We promise to listen and collaborate with the public, the board and the village, because that’s how you get things done in the real world,” he said.

The six present candidates said they would support taking decisions regarding any sale or transfer of public land to referendum, a question that seemingly referenced the now-dormant property exchange agreement between the Winnetka Park District and the Ishbia family.

“Sound decisions need to be made, so referendum is the right path,” Kunkle said. “I can tell you that the past decisions around the land swap I would not have voted for.”

Rapp said going to referendum would provide “very valuable” feedback to the Park Board.

“Green space is a critical asset for the park district,” she said. “It definitely cannot be replaced. And I’d take the decisions related to the sale and transfer of land … to referendum.”

The Vote

More than 2,000 residents reportedly had preregistered to vote, either in-person at The Skokie School, or virtually, as the town hall was live-streamed on Zoom.

Voting for the Park Board candidates was done by ranked choice, with each of the four seats being voted on one at a time.

Caucus Council President Stephen Dewart told The Record that the caucus bylaws require this method of voting “if there are two or more excess candidates.”

According to the voting results, Seaman won the first seat at 52% of the vote, or 680 votes out of 1,309 ballots cast. Raith won the second seat with 55.4% (630 out of 1,143 ballots). Kunkle received 62% of the vote for the third seat (629 out of 1,017). And Anstaett won the fourth seat with 58.6% of the vote (417 votes out of 791 ballots). Rapp finished in second place for the fourth seat with 30.76% (219 votes).

Other Races

The Park Board may have been the most contentious vote of the night but it was not the only one.

The caucus vote affirmed the caucus council recommendations for:

• Village president (incumbent Bob Dearborn)
• Village Council (incumbents Kirk Albinson, Scott Myers and Bridget Orsic)
• Winnetka-Northfield Public Library Board (Nancy Detlefsen and incumbents Jennifer Fisher, Laura Freechack and Matt Kinnich)
• Winnetka District 36 School Board (Faith Atkins, Kathryn Martin, Emily Krone Phillips and incumbent Jackie McLaughlin)

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