La Salle City Council: Thompson leads Hammers for 1st Ward alderman seat

Incumbent 1st Ward Alderman Bob Thompson leads challenger Gary Hammers for a seat on the La Salle City Council with 100% of precincts reporting. Thompson holds a 120 to 71 vote lead over Hammers, in unofficial totals.

Thompson was previously appointed to the position in June of 2022 after the resignation of Diz Demes because of health issues.

“I’m just looking forward to continuing in the seat that I’m currently sitting in and continue to help as best as I can,” Thompson said. “That was always my plan if I got elected.”

Thompson is the director of asset protection for Hy-Vee in Peru and served as the La Salle zoning board chairman. Thompson previously ran for alderman in Ward 1 in 2017 and came in second place, and in 2019 he filed a petition to run but removed his name from the ballot because of a health issue.

“It takes so much time and money to run an election,” Thompson said. “I think it was a good election, but I think the turnout was a little small.”

Thompson has a military and police background and a history of service to the city. Some of his former titles include: Staff Sergeant in the United States Army, lieutenant for the Peru Police department, CEO of Thompson Thompson & Association DBA/Swiss Colony, international police advisor for the U.S State Department in Iraq, federal armed security specialist for the state of Illinois and CEO of All-American Public Adjusters in Tennessee.

Before election day, La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove also weighed in on the 1st Ward aldermanic race between Thompson and Hammers. Grove endorsed Thompson in a white paper that also was critical of Hammers, a La Salle businessman.

The flyer made its way around social media. Hammers has led an enthusiastic campaign involving several signs, ads and billboards.

Thompson figures to join incumbent Jordan Crane on the council after Crane leads challenger James Cleary by a vote of 261 to 80, according to unofficial totals.

In the city’s 2nd Ward, incumbent Jerry Reynolds holds a narrow 79 to 75 lead over challenger Amy Luth in unofficial totals. Results won’t be certified across the state until two weeks after Tuesday. Some mail-in ballots also will likely be counted after Tuesday and will count as long as they’re postmarked by April 4. In many local races, results can be decided by a handful of votes, so it’s important for residents to remember that Tuesday’s polling numbers might not show the final picture yet, officials said.

Joe Jeppson was unopposed in the 3rd Ward.