There are two contested races for the Sangamon County Board in the March 17 primary election, one each on the Republican and Democratic ballots.
Incumbent Republican David Mendenhall faces challenger Samantha Auby in District 3, while Democratic incumbent Sam Cahnman is opposed by Miguel Valente in District 18.
Samantha Auby is challenging David Mendenhall in the Republican primary for Sangamon County Board District 3.
Mendenhall vs. Auby
Both Republican candidates for Sangamon County Board District 3 work in the agricultural industry, feel that data centers and renewable energy projects shouldn’t be located on prime farmland, and think the sheriff’s department needs more support to prevent a recurrence of the Sonya Massey tragedy.
So what sets them apart? In a nutshell, experience versus a fresh perspective. Plus, there’s a constituent service issue that has been simmering beneath the surface.
David Mendanhall has been the District 3 Board member since 2002. He filled the unexpired term of the previous incumbent and has been reelected ever since. His challenger, Samantha Auby, is a political newcomer who decided to run based on what she contends has been the non-response to an issue that she tried to address with Mendenhall.
“We have a terrible intersection in our area – people fly through it all the time, don’t look up from their phones, typical rural community intersection,” Auby said. “I had enough of it, being pregnant, not wanting to get hit or not wanting to get hit with my son in the car.”
Auby said she tried to address the issue with Mendanhall.
“I emailed my current county board representative and still haven’t gotten a response back on it,” Auby said. “So I thought if my voice isn’t being heard, others probably aren’t either. I want to be a voice for my generation and generations to come.”
Mendenhall said he does not recall receiving any communication from Auby about the issue and apologized if he missed something.
“I’m retired, I’m pretty much always available, and I feel terrible about that (missing Auby’s email),” the 70-year-old Mendenhall said. “But the particular road project that she was concerned about is on the list to be repaired and upgraded because we’ve had other people call about it.”
That single issue is what caused 34-year-old Auby to make a run for the District 3 seat.
“I appreciate the apology, but it’s important, working for the taxpayers, that you’re transparent and accessible at all times,” Auby said. “What would happen if me and my son would have gotten hit? That’s a tragedy. To be ignored is unacceptable when you work for the taxpayers.”
Board District 3 covers roughly one-fourth of Sangamon County and encompasses the largely rural eastern portion of the county, including the communities of Buffalo, Buffalo Hart, Buckhart, Dawson, Illiopolis and Mechanicsburg. Both candidates feel a major County Board concern continues to be land use in the predominantly agricultural district.
“There are many places that data centers and solar farms could be built that don’t take prime farmland out of production. The solar project they built near Lowder took 4,200 acres of prime farmland out of production,” Mendenhall said. “That could have been built up by Illiopolis where the old munitions plant is and you can’t farm.”
With some of the world’s best soil in Sangamon County, Mendenhall said the data center and solar farm issue continues to be about location.
“If nothing else, they could pick a location and build a solar project and a data center in the same spot,” Mendenhall said. “I believe they built a solar farm out behind the airport, and they could build the data center out there.”
Auby agreed that the data center issue is something that will continue to require the board’s attention.
“All of this is on some of the best dirt in the state and it not only takes away from the individuals that own the land, but more importantly, it can drive cash rent prices up for those who cash rent,” Auby said. “It can also take away business and money from full-service retail ag companies and all the people that they employ. Some of the best jobs around here outside of state employment and in the medical fields are ag jobs.”
Auby has a master’s degree in environmental studies “so I can kind of see it from both sides. As Illinois moves to clean energy by 2050 and technology changes, we’re going to see a lot more discussion about renewable resources and data centers being put in,” she said.
Auby works for the agricultural company Brandt, grew up on a farm in northwest Illinois and lives in eastern Sangamon County with her husband and son.
Mendenhall has been a farmer and agricultural landowner and is part of a family seed company. He helped to kick off the County Board’s Farm to Table project, with Pawnee School on board and several other institutions poised to take part in the locally produced food program.
Besides the Farm to Table project, Mendenhall, the former assistant fire chief in Mechanicsburg, was able to work with fellow County Board members to upgrade that community’s radio dispatch system to address communication dead spots in the area.
Both candidates consider the killing of Sonya Massey by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy to be “a terrible tragedy,” and they advocate for additional resources for the department to address some of the findings of the Massey Commission.
“More training needs to be done, and I think the current sheriff is doing that,” Mendenhall said. “I don’t think the past or current sheriffs have dropped the ball, I just think vital information was not passed along by the deputy’s previous employer as it should have been. In the future, I hope more information can be shared to address this issue.”
Auby feels that more mental health assistance services are needed in the county, particularly when those services overlap with law enforcement, and that the sheriff’s department needs more funding to address the Massey Commission’s recommendations.
“I think moving forward that better pay, as in all jobs, brings better qualified candidates for those (sheriff’s department) positions,” Auby said. “It’s really important that we look at mental health and community involvement and work with the Massey Commission to listen, learn and act appropriately.”
Auby declined to comment when asked if she faulted the previous or current sheriffs for the Massey tragedy.
Mendenhall is a lifelong Sangamon County resident who lives near Buffalo just three-and-a-half miles from where he was born and raised. Mendenhall and his wife, Susan, have had five children, three of whom are deceased, and several grandchildren.
“The majority of people in the district live in the ag community. There are several small towns and many farmland owners, farmers, seed companies and so forth that want someone that will continue to represent the ag industry,” Mendenhall said. “The ag industry is the economic driver for Sangamon County and we need to continue that.”
Auby respects Mendenhall’s years of service but feels it’s time for a change.
“We need a fresh new perspective, and I don’t fault anybody when I say that. The current County Board member for District 3 has been there 20-plus years, and I think with that comes a wealth of knowledge and knowledge of the history of the County Board,” Auby said. “But I think at some point it’s important for future generations to be involved in those sort of things so we have fresh perspectives.”
Cahnman vs. Valente
As reported in the Feb. 5 edition of Illinois Times, 25-year-old Illinois Governor’s Office of Management and Budget analyst Miguel Valente faces 71-year-old incumbent Sam Cahnman on the March 17 Democratic ballot for County Board District 18. The district includes portions of north and west-central Springfield.
Incumbent Sam Cahnman, left, is being challenged in the Democraticprimary for Sangamon County Board District 18 by Miguel Valente.
Valente considers himself a fiscally minded candidate focused on affordability, transparency and government efficiency. Valente lives on Springfield’s north side and said his decision to run grew out of both his professional background in public finance and his desire to represent the district that has high poverty rates and aging housing stock.
Cahnman, a private attorney, was first elected to the Sangamon County Board in 2002 and later served on the Springfield City Council as the Ward 5 alderman from 2007-2015 before being defeated by Republican Andrew Proctor. Cahnman returned to the County Board in 2022.
Valente supports making Sangamon County a home-rule county, a change that would require voter approval. Home-rule status would allow the county to pass certain ordinances without seeking approval from the General Assembly. Cahnman countered that home rule would make it easier for the Republican-controlled County Board to raise taxes.
Valente also proposes the creation of a county budget office to improve long-term financial projections, cost controls and policy compliance. In addition, he wants to establish two advisory commissions, one focused on economic development and another on homelessness.
A total of 16 Sangamon County Board seats are up for election. Three districts currently have candidates from each party who will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election: Democrat Angela Griffin and Republican Dan Rourke in District 5, Democrat Tara Bergschneider and Republican Richard King in District 7, and Democrat Kimberly Estes and Republican Paul Truax in District 10.
In addition, a special election will be held in District 21 where Democrat Reginald “Reggie” Guyton, who was appointed last year to fill the term of the late Clyde Bunch, is unopposed.
Republicans Casey Constant in District 2, Jeffrey A. Thomas in District 4, Pam Deppe in District 5, Craig Hall in District 7 and Cathy Scaife in District 29 have all decided not to seek reelection.
This article appears in March 12-18, 2026.
