11032017 - News Article - Dem, GOP considering plans for 2019 Portage mayoral race

Dem, GOP considering plans for 2019 Portage mayoral race 
Chicago Tribune
November 03, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-mayor-st-1105-20171104-story.html
Two elected officials in Portage have begun making plans to run for mayor, even though they will not face voters for another two years.

Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham, a Democrat, and Councilman John Cannon, R-4th, confirmed they have formed exploratory committees for mayoral runs.

Mayor James Snyder, a Republican who won reelection to the office in November 2015, has not commented on his plans. 

Snyder was indicted on public corruption charges in November 2016 and faces a January trial date. 

If Snyder is convicted and forced from his seat, the Porter County Republican Party will name his replacement until the election the following year. 

Cannon and Stidam recently took different approaches to describing their plans, though both acknowledged they were getting off to very early starts.

"I think it's clear the current administration is done," Stidham said. "It's highly unlikely (Snyder) runs for reelection and even less likely he wins, so the time is right, now, for me to look at it.

"There's a lot of things I want to get done."

Cannon listed a number of "wins" for the city in the past several years.

"I have a record I can run on," Cannon said. "I actually represent people in a district and got something done for them. Promises kept."

Stidham said confidence in Snyder is waning, while Cannon repeatedly said the mayor "has high approval ratings" in the community.

"My only issue with James Snyder is, for every good thing he's done, there's been two or three bad things that go along with it," Stidham said. "If we didn't have that, we'd be a lot farther along, but there's no doubt he's done some good things for the city."

Cannon, who described himself as an ally and friend of Snyder's, acknowledged the indictment as one reason he plans on running, saying "there's some heavy legal stuff going on" in the city.