Guerrero running for Joliet Township supervisor, gives up City Council bid

Joliet Councilman Cesar Guerrero will not seek reelection but will run instead for supervisor of Joliet Township.

Guerrero on Wednesday announced that he has withdrawn his candidacy for reelection in April and instead will be on the ballot for township supervisor.

“I feel a sense of completion at City Council,” he said. “Just about everything I sought to do in my first term I was able to get done.”

Guerrero is completing his first term as at-large councilman.

At Joliet Township, he would run township government if elected as supervisor.

Guerrero on Tuesday was slated by a Democratic caucus to head the party list of candidates in the April 1 election virtually guaranteeing him the job given the track record of Democratic Party success in township elections.

He would replace Alicia Morales, who also sought the nomination after becoming supervisor in July. Morales, formerly township clerk, replaced former Supervisor Angel Contreras after he was forced to resign after being convicted of a felony driving under the influence charge.

“Following the results of the Democratic caucus, the current Joliet Township government supervisor, clerk, and trustees will not be continuing on the Democratic slate for the upcoming April election,” Morales said in a statement. “The current highway commissioner and assessor will remain in their positions on the new Democratic slate.”

Guerrero’s election in 2021 was historic in that he was the first Hispanic candidate to win an at-large seat, which is elected citywide. Hispanics previously had sought to eliminate the at-large council position saying the citywide vote made it impossible for minorities to win the seat.

The Joliet City Council has three at-large seats and five district seats.

Guerrero’s bid for reelection to council was under challenge along with three other candidates who faced questions about the petitions they filed to run for office.

Guerrero on Tuesday afternoon before the township caucus meeting attended an electoral board hearing on the petition challenges. Guerrero said then that he would likely pull out of the council race if chosen to be the Democratic candidate for township supervisor,