A new political group has been formed in Oak Park in an effort to bring village politics a little closer to the middle.

The new group, called Elevate Oak Park, was the brainchild of three former volunteers working the unsuccessful village president campaign of Ravi Parakatt, who received only 37.17% of the vote in his unsuccessful bid to oust Oak Park Village President Scaman.

Scaman and most of the other winning candidates in Oak Park’s April village elections were backed by progressive activist group Activate Oak Park, which was formed in 2020. Candidates backed by Activate Oak Park won races for village president, as well as village, library and school boards.

While Activate Oak Park is not a party and didn’t run candidates, some candidates were active in the group before deciding to

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