Roberts wins Hawthorne race

Hawthorne incumbent DeLoris Roberts, left, and challenger Jennifer Kotowske, right, embrace after election results confirmed that Roberts had won the commission race with 58 percent of the vote, and will now serve her sixth two-year term.

Supporters of DeLoris Roberts camped out on the west side of 221st St. in blue, and supporters for her challenger, Jennifer Kotowske, camped out across the street decked out in red.

This was a new sight for Roberts, who has served five consecutive terms on the commission, starting in 2000. In each of those previous races, she ran unopposed.

This year Roberts had competition, but she came out on top with 131 of the total 227 votes, or 58 percent.

Kotowske, a personal banker at M&S Bank, received the other 96 votes, or 42 percent.

 “I’m grateful that they chose me as their public servant for another two years, and I thank them for their vote of confidence,” Roberts said.

Roberts said she did not take her competition lightly and went door-to-door to encourage people to vote.

Hawthorne has 872 registered voters, meaning 26 percent of voters came out this year. The turnout was higher last year, but there were also three races, compared with only one this year.

“I know I touched at least 800 doors,” Roberts said. “I actually put my tennis shoes and straw hat on to listen to their concerns. I had a chance to meet people I did not even know lived here. It was a very humbling and rewarding experience.”

Roberts and her supporters wore shirts with the phrase, “half a million reasons” on them. She said the slogan comes from the fact that she was able to lobby Tallahassee to get about $500,000 for Hawthorne in earmarks.

“I’m the only commissioner ever to bring a half a million dollars to Hawthorne from lobbying Tallahassee,” Roberts said. “What better reason, what better purpose to have than for the people to elect me again, so I can bring another half a million.”

Last year, challengers defeated incumbents in all three races, but that would not be the case this year.

Mayor Eleanor Randall also secured another two-year term, running unopposed.

Despite her defeat, Kotowske remained positive. She said she would continue to come to commission meetings and stay involved in the issues. She thanked her supporters and also left the door open for running in next year’s commission race.

“I am absolutely floored for by the number of people that came out and showed their support for me,” Kotowske said. “I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart, and maybe I’ll be out again next year.”

Kotowske described the campaign as “a great experience,” and she said she was glad the campaigns remained positive.

Roberts said she wanted to thank all the people who worked out front and behind the scenes to make her campaign a success. Now that the campaigning is behind her, Roberts said she will take a short break to spend time with family and grandchildren.

Her priorities in the city are to move forward with the Hawthorne Area Community Center and work to bring more small businesses to the city.