“Jolly” Mitch Davilo, chair of the Pirate National Committee, will seek a seat on the Midlothian Village Board in Illinois for the 2027 election cycle, becoming the Illinois Pirate Party’s first candidate for office in several years.
Davilo went public with his plans for local office at the National Committee’s July 5 meeting, also writing in a post-meeting wrap-up that he will seek a seat on Midlothian’s Board of Trustees in the April 2027 municipal election. “More announcements will come in the coming weeks, but this is essentially a done deal,” Davilo said.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for governing the Village of Midlothian and consists of six members elected during odd-year election cycles. Trustees are elected three at a time, with terms lasting four years. Specific municipal responsibilities are then divided among individual trustees.
Davilo is the current chair of the Pirate National Committee, having been reelected to a second term at the party’s annual conference earlier this year in Boston, as well as a member of the Illinois Pirate Party. He is also a former congressional candidate, having mounted a 2022 campaign for Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. However, he ultimately suspended that campaign without ever qualifying for the ballot.
Despite Midlothian being a municipality, its trustee races include ballot designations, giving Davilo an opportunity to potentially appear on the ballot using the Pirate Party label if he petitions for access, as the party does not currently have state recognition in Illinois. During the 2025 election cycle, candidates running under the local Midlothian On The Move Party label won all three trustee seats up for election, while a lone independent candidate finished fourth.
Davilo has not yet said whether he plans to run as an independent or attempt to qualify using the Pirate Party designation, though either route would require nomination papers signed by local voters equal to at least 5 percent of the number of voters who participated in Midlothian’s previous regular election. Independent candidates are also subject to an 8 percent signature maximum. He said additional announcements are expected in the coming weeks.
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