As the 2025 Consolidated Election slated for April 1st draws nearer, you might find yourself driving down Broadway looking upon the onslaught of bright yellow signs reading “Lewis 4 Mayor.” But who is Mayor John Lewis, why is he running for re-election, and what does he bring to the table?
Lewis has so far completed two terms serving Mount Vernon as mayor and plans to serve one more term before he steps down.
“My dad was mayor for 20 years and I saw what he went through, and I told myself I would never run for mayor-it’s a thankless job,” said Lewis, “but I’m here because the business people were upset with the way things were going.”
“The city was going broke in 2016 (the first time Lewis ran for Mayor) but in 18 months we had the city in good financial condition, had everyone hired back, and had 50 million in projects every year,” asserted Lewis.
These projects include the development of a new recreational center located in Mt. Vernon slated for completion in 2027, a new overpass over I-57 beginning construction this year, and new tennis courts and bridges in Veterans Park.
Lewis is a businessman at heart as well as a retired Illinois State Trooper, which he prides himself in, as he says it prepared him with the necessary financial background and leadership skills he needed to thrive as mayor.
“I think that gave me the background I needed for this job because when you’re a state trooper you just do what’s right and you’ve been called every name in the book, so none of it bothers me,” said Lewis.
One growing concern of public figures is the roar of social media, the place many take to to express their concerns, and especially their grievances.
Lewis asserts that the hardest part of being Mayor is “just tuning out social media and not letting it seep into your decision-making because it’s usually a lot of half-truths and not where the mainstream people are.”
The main takeaway from social media he said is to “get a feel for what everyone’s complaining about so you can know what you need to be doing and know what’s on people’s minds.”
Lewis’s vision for the future is to bring back the connectedness and involvement of the community:
“I don’t blame young people so much as “progress” holing yourself up in your house, they’ve made it so easy to not participate,” asserted the Mayor.
“When I was younger, everybody was raised to leave your community a better place than when you got here, be involved, be active, do things in your community.”
Lewis runs contested this year, going toe-to-toe with Mr. Dante Moor,e whom he faced in 2016 (along with two other candidates.) Lucas nonetheless emerged with 60% of the popular vote in that election.
“ We’re pretty comfortable with the election, Dante’s a good person, got nothing negative to say about him. I applaud anyone who wants to get involved,” said Lewis.
Whether it’s Lewis or Moore, don’t forget to make your voice heard and get to the polls to vote this April and make your selection for mayor!
