The Democratic Party of Evanston is set to turn over most of its leadership next weekend, as members will vote on seven nominees for appointment to the 10-member board of directors at the local party’s annual membership meeting on July 26.
The party announced the appointees in a July 1 newsletter to its membership, which includes any residents in the District 65 and 202 attendance boundaries who have paid the annual membership dues. The new appointees include:
- Krissie Harris, the city councilmember for the Second Ward and student life manager at Oakton College.
- Jackson Paller, a legal staffer for Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and 2021 candidate for city clerk.
- Nick Pyati, a former federal antitrust prosecutor and Microsoft strategy leader, and 2026 Democratic congressional candidate.
- Loren Berlin, a writer and researcher specializing in housing issues and member of the city’s Land Use Commission.
- Andy Chusid, a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch and past policy worker for the Illinois House Democrats and lobbyist for the Health Care Council of Illinois.
- Ana Croegaert, a researcher, curator and author of anthropology and the events manager for Bookends & Beginnings.
- Hyrum Flores, a rising sophomore at Northwestern University who works on policy with NAACP Evanston/North Shore and The Trade Collective.
These seven will replace an equal number of outgoing board members, including City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza and past municipal candidates Darlene Cannon, Jacqueline Mendoza and Sebastian Nalls. The only returning members are President Kathy Hayes, Treasurer Dan Jordan and Secretary Ryan Flynn, each of whom are up for new terms in their officer positions, as well.
The new appointees will serve three-year terms, and Hayes told the RoundTable they come from recommendations by current board members. She said the party sought out board members who “can lead initiatives,” both in the current midterm cycle and beyond, as well as a diverse slate that reflects the Democratic Party’s “big tent” approach.
“We have men, we have women, we have different cultures, we have different levels of influence,” Hayes said. “Some of these folks have worked in Springfield [the state government] and understand how those things work. … We have people who have different community and social interests that go beyond what they do in their day-to-day lives as as regular citizens.”
Board members are limited to two consecutive terms, after which they must wait two years before they can rejoin. Hayes named Chusid as a board member who is returning after that break.
The board turnover comes shortly after the local party also got a new committeeperson in State Rep. and House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (18th District), who ran for the seat uncontested in the March 17 primary. Mayor Daniel Biss previously held the seat since being appointed by the board in January 2024, but instead ran for and won the state central committeeman seat for the 9th Congressional District.
Hayes said the party is aiming to bring in more young members and serve as a “consistent, reliable resource of information” for voters, both on elections and specific issues. The party is also holding monthly “policy salon” conversations hosted by Deputy Committeeperson Rachel Ruttenberg, starting with two on ranked choice voting and cuts to SNAP and Medicaid funding and an upcoming one on data centers.
She added that the local party will work closely with the Democratic Parties of Illinois and Cook County, as well as local partners like Indivisible Evanston, the NAACP and Operation Swing State. She said that, while many people tend to only engage with the party during presidential elections, working the current midterm cycle will be important for issues that directly affect people’s lives in Evanston and across Illinois.
“We have a pretty large ticket that’s coming up for the midterm, even locally with the the judges and everything else,” Hayes said. “This is just as important as the presidential time, if not more important, because it affects how you live daily — your quality of life daily.”
Evanston Dems adding slate of new board members ahead of midterm rollout is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston’s most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
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July 19, 2026 at 11:21PM
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