Another Arlington Heights trustee will exit the Village Board headed for the General Assembly, with Nicolle Grasse picked Wednesday to replace Mark Walker as state representative of the 53rd District.
“I was grateful, surprised and humbled,” Grasse told Pioneer Press after being appointed. “It’s kind of surreal but I’m really excited to get started.”
Democratic committee leaders from Wheeling, Maine, Palatine and Elk Grove townships met Wednesday at the Mount Prospect Public Library to question the six applicants who had been vying for the seat vacated by Arlington Heights Democrat Mark Walker after he was appointed to the state Senate.
Walker was picked May 11 to take over the 27th District state Senate after Ann Gillespie – another Arlington Heights Democrat – resigned when Gov. J.B. Priztker appointed her in April to head the Illinois Department of Insurance.
After being selected Wednesday night, Grasse, 57, was sworn in by a judge and immediately took on the state lawmaker role. However, she plans to complete her term as Arlington Heights trustee, which runs through 2025.
The appointment to state representative runs through the term expiration, which is this year. So, to continue in the role, Grasse will be on the ballot in the General Election in November. Walker had been running unopposed in that race.
“I felt confident I was able to fill this vacancy,” Grasse said about being a state rep. “For the remaining term, it’s about preparing for the next election.”
She was elected to the Arlington Heights Village Board in 2021. With her new appointment, Grasse becomes the latest village trustee to work simultaneous elected leader roles. Mary Beth Canty chose to remain in her village trustee position through April 2023 after being elected state representative in November 2022.
Grasse could possibly be state rep and village trustee through 2025.
Her first order of business as a state lawmaker, she said, is to meet with her campaign committee, fellow committee persons and the Democratic caucus while reaching out to residents in the district – which includes Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg.
The five other applicants who sought the position were Mount Prospect Village Trustee Terri Gens, former Rolling Meadows mayor Joe Gallo, U.S. Navy Reservist and union carpenter Phillip Dukes, Jason Wynkoop, a licensed social worker and chief program officer at the Chicago Children Advocacy Center, and former Mount Prospect School District 57 Board of Education member Joe Sonnefeldt. Each applicant was given five minutes to make a statement introducing themselves to the committee and the 35 people in attendance at the meeting.
Committee members – which included Walker, representing Wheeling Township, state Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Park Ridge, for Maine Township, Ted Mason of Elk Grove Township and Marie Gallo for Palatine Township – asked each applicant a series of questions then went into executive session for about 30 minutes to discuss. Their selection was unanimous.
“It was a hard choice. I was delighted with the candidates,” Walker told Pioneer Press after the announcement. “I first hesitated to go to the Senate because I wasn’t sure of my backup.
“Nicolle is a person who knows how to deal with adversity and knows how to deal with difficult situations and knows how to deal with difficult people,” Walker said. “Her position in years of being in hospice is what makes that work. She’s also one of the first people to deal with the AIDS epidemic in terms of personal contact with people even when doctors and nurses wouldn’t do it. She brings that kind of credibility. I think she’s a good choice.”
During her remarks Wednesday, Grasse spoke of her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, public health, increasing affordable housing, working for common sense gun reform, paying down debt and caring for the most vulnerable.
She told Pioneer Press she is a strong supporter LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m an ally,” Grasse said. “It’s the people I met during the AIDS crisis that set me on that path for justice.”
Grasse lives in Arlington Heights with her husband, Mike, a retired high school teacher, and her daughter, who is in college.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
