Lake County Gazette

Prudence Beidler admits she admires her opponent, Dr. Randy Tack.

When the two Lake Forest mayoral hopefuls served together on the city council, she praised Tack’s “utter commitment” to the community.  She said he taught her to keep an open mind, how to “look at things from a different point of view.”

Now Beidler, 76, says Lake Forest needs an expressly female one.

She says she won’t support Tack, 64, a surgeon who beat her out in October for the endorsement of the 43-member Lake Forest Caucus, not because she doesn't think he would do a good job, but rather because he’s a man.

“I..think there are real benefits that women bring, ” Beidler told the Chicago Tribune-owned Lake Forester. “I happen to be a female, but I would not say that is my only qualification.”

But six weeks into her campaign, she has yet to offer up any others.

Beidler isn’t publicly disagreeing with Tack’s stated policy vision for Lake Forest— he’s promised to promote economic development while preserving Lake Forest’s “unique character”— and she hasn’t sought to distinguish herself from her opponent, if not biologically.

Instead, she’s seeking to rally Lake Forest women as a voting block, urging them to reject a male mayor.

A self-described philanthropist and sometime political activist— Beidler is the only Lake Forest resident to have financially supported both Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx— she also tried to win the Lake Forest Caucus endorsement for mayor in 2017 and 2019, but was rejected.

Last fall, in agreeing to participate for a third time in the Caucus interview and endorsement process, she vowed to support its choice. But Beidler reneged when that choice was revealed to be a man.

“I think it is important for the city to have me (a woman) this time,” she told the Lake Forester. “I don’t know if I am a consensus builder just because I am a woman or that is just my style.”

“You don’t want to reward the petulant child with a sucker”

But Beidler’s style, as she’s pursued Lake Forest’s mayorship for the better part of a decade, has its critics.

Last month, Lake Forest Podcast host Pete Jansons recounted witnessing Beidler and former Illinois State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) harassing  Mary Greub of Gerhard's Bakery for refusing to put up a sign in support of her mayoral campaign.

"I open up the door, Mary's behind the counter, there's two people there, and there's a lot of yelling going on," Jansons said. "I guess I interrupted a discussion of whether Mary, a small business owner, should have a Randy Tack sign in the window."

Jansons and his co-host, Skoo Walker, discussed the encounter on their Dec. 24 show.

"This is a big bad thing," Walker said. "You cannot go to business owners and say-- 'you cannot have this sign because it’s not me.'"

Walker said Beidler's participating in the Caucus process, then reneging on her commitment to support its choice, is disqualifying.

"She's saying 'I have a right to be mayor," Walker said. "You don't have that right."

"It's not a secret. I want to know what happened in the interview process. What did (Beidler) do wrong that made 43 people elected by the community decide 'I like him better," Walker said. "There’s a lot at stake here. There’s reasons why people move here. You don’t want to reward the petulant child with a sucker." 

Beidler served on the Lake Forest City Council from 2014-2020, overlapping four years with Tack, who served from 2012-2018. 

The Consolidated Election is April 4.