Chris Stohr Appointed to 2nd Seat

Champaign County Democratic Party may have added to the previous appointment disagreements in filling one of two of the recent vacancies on the County Board. Last time it was a contentious appointment where there were accusations of racism and a disagreement on weighting and representation that changed the internal party vote (more at Douglas Chosen for District 6 - UPDATEx5 and the News-Gazette coverage of the fallout at the following County Board meeting). It's hard to say how much last night's appointment process stemmed from the previous fallout or may exacerbate it. From the News-Gazette today:

Dems give Champaign County Board member who lost primary 2nd chance
In March's primary, Urbana residents voted Chris Stohr off the Champaign County Board when his term expires in November.

Thursday evening, his fellow Democrats gave the 69-year-old a second chance.

In a 32-minute meeting held behind closed doors at the Urbana Free Library, a divided group of Democratic precinct committeemen slated Stohr for the November ballot for District 10.

The district has two seats — the one Stohr lost to Tanisha King-Taylor in March's primary and the one made available last month following the resignation of Robert King.

So, if King-Taylor beats her Republican opponent, David Weisiger, on Nov. 6, she could be seated alongside the man she defeated eight months earlier.

More details at the full article here, including about how not even the Democratic chair of the County Board was informed of the meeting. He expressed surprise that the public wasn't notified of the meeting. The article explains that the wife of former County Board member Robert King had advocated for diversity in the choice while supporting another contender for the appointment, Cedric Stratton.

Robert King's wife, Angela King, called on committee members Thursday to consider the political newcomer.

"We have been here in this community for seven years, and when we first moved into District 10, we were the only family of color on the block," she said Thursday. "We saw the power of having representation from people of color at the table. I want this group to consider slating another person of color for District 10. I think that's extremely vital.

"I look around this room, and it is mostly white people. I hope you understand the importance of continuing having representation that is different from what historically has been at the table."

Robert King, it should be noted, was the chair of the Justice & Social Services committee prior to his announced move and resignation. He had been working with local community to help facilitate the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations.