Our Daily Show Interview! Martha Pfister Candidate for Ward 2- State of the Race '25
ALTON – Martha Pfister, candidate for Ward 2 Alderwoman,appeared on Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com to share her goals for the ward if elected as part of our 2025 State of the Race coverage ahead of Election Day on April 1, 2025.
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A born-and-raised Alton native and frequent community volunteer, Pfister announced her candidacy at the start of 2025 with three main pillars: community, connection, and collaboration. Aside from one weekend, she’s been knocking on doors every weekend since.
“I’ve met a lot of different people and been in a lot of different neighborhoods,” she said. “People really just want to know what’s going on and they want to be connected to their alderperson.”
Pfister and Tiana Gipson are running as challengers to incumbent Ward 2 Alderwoman Carolyn MacAfee.
If elected, Pfister plans to host monthly “Ward 2 meetings” focused on the city’s second ward which would be open to the public. She said many people she’s talked to while knocking on doors are excited by the prospect of these meetings.
“I’m tough, I can listen to people’s complaints, but I don’t want people to feel down or negative when they come,” Pfister said. “I want there to be an opportunity to come and share their concerns, but also just keep it brief, keep it focused on an agenda, keep it positive.”
While feeling connected to their local officials is one priority for Ward 2 residents, Pfister said another is the condition of local streets and roads – as is the “balance” between home ownership and rental housing.
“That’s one of the biggest things that does come up, is just people wanting in their neighborhoods for there to be people purchasing and then living in those homes,” she said. “I think that there’s this conception that can come across as somebody being against renters, but I think what it really is about is we just want people to stay here and be neighbors, and not be kind of in and out.”
Going forward, Pfister wants to keep Alton clean by continuing community trash pickup and beautification efforts. She also wants to pursue grant funding opportunities to upgrade the ward’s parks and playgrounds, but her first priority if elected will be setting up the Ward 2 meetings and spreading awareness about them.
Pfister has an extensive history of volunteer work with Alton Main Street, Jacoby Arts Center, Overnight Warming Locations, and more. As a mother of young children, she helped bring play places to spaces like the Post Commons and the former Riverbender.com Community Center (now the iMerge Community Center).
“We have so many organization that do a lot for Alton, so I want to give them all the credit for all the things they do and work together with them,” she said.
Over the next couple weeks, Ward 2 residents may get a knock on the door from Pfister as she makes her final rounds to a few remaining streets and houses. She’s also gathering a group of volunteers to remind neighborhood residents to vote on April 1.
For more on Pfister’s plans for Ward 2, check out her website at marthapfister.com or see her full State of the Race interview at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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