District 10 Vacancy

Thursday, at this month's County Board meeting, Connie Dillard-Myers is expected to be sworn in to fill the vacancy in District 10. Democrat Dr. Tanisha King-Taylor resigned two months ago after an extended absence. Shortly after winning office in the 2018 midterms, she earned her PhD and she took a job out of state. There were some efforts to see if remote participation would be possible, but County Board rules prohibit it and there wasn't enough support for a change towards an exception.

A public dispute rose from the selection of a replacement last week by County Democratic Party officials. From the News-Gazette:

Some local Democrats are expressing dismay today after the Champaign County Board chairman chose a different candidate than the one selected by precinct committeemen to fill a vacancy.

Committeemen had selected Mary King over Connie Dillard-Myers for the District 10 seat that came open when Tanisha King-Taylor resigned after taking a job out of state. But at last night’s county board committee meeting, Democratic Chairman Giraldo Rosales brought Dillard-Myers forward for a vote.

Neither Rosales nor King could be reached for comment. But Democratic board member Leah Taylor said Rosales told the board his pick was an effort to get more diversity on the board. King is white, while Dillard-Myers is black.

That blurb available here. This month's Committee of the Whole video, with some of the public disagreement over the appointment, isn't available yet on the County Clerk's YouTube channel. County Board videos from last month don't appear to be available yet either in continuing extensive delays.

It's unclear how exactly this will effect the primary election race as potential candidates are still gathering signatures to get on the ballot.