Three incumbent candidates and one challenger were elected to fill four open seats on the Naperville City Council, according to unofficial election results from WIll and DuPage counties.
Incumbents Judy Brodhead, John Krummen and Kevin Coyne will be joined by Benny White.
Incumbent Kevin Gallaher garnered the least number of votes, the Chicago Tribune reported. Gallaher became a member of the city council in 1995 and served until 2002. He was elected again in 2015.
Also in the running were Mike Strick, the CEO of a Naperville Oil Zone who unsuccessfully ran for state representative in 2016; Mike Issac, the CEO of Third Party Pet; and Julie Berkowicz, a sales professional.
Naperville voters approved a referendum that proposed merging municipal road districts in Naperville and Lisle townships, with more than 56 percent voting "yes." Coyne and Naperville Supervisor Rachel Ossyra put forth the proposal, saying the intergovernmental agreement would result in savings for taxpayers, according to the Chicago Tribune. The measure also appeared on Lisle Township ballots, where more than 54 percent of voters marked "yes."
The past months have been a flurry of political activity with candidates from both sides attempting to reach voters and discuss core issues, each pledging to make life easier for residents of the township.
During his re-election campaign, Coyne promised to lower the amounts taxpayers spend on utilities and other services. Berkowicz raised concerns about the ever-increasing costs of living in Naperville. Krummen focused on fiscally conservative plans.
Brodhead also spoke about fiscal responsibility and reminded voters during her campaign that Naperville accomplished what few other municipalities had – it kept a balanced budget.
In other election news, the race for the City of Joliet Councilman at Large proved a winner for incumbents Michael Turk and Jan Quillman, who will be joined by newcomer Don 'Duck' Dickinson for the upcoming term. With 15 total candidates on the ballot, the vote was severely divided. Turk, Quillman and Dickinson received 16.80 percent, 15.21 percent and 11.28 percent of the vote, respectively.
Joliet Township also saw a tight race for trustee. Raymond F. Slattery and Burke Schuster successfully fended off efforts to unseat the incumbents. They will be joined on the board by Archie Gavin and Rosie Verdin. The Democratic candidates swept the election, garnering 18.91 percent, 17.38 percent, 17.17 percent and 16.89 percent of the votes, respectively.
The City of Wilmington saw a tight mayoral race, with an upset of incumbent Marty Orr. Challenger Roy Strong took the win with 37.81 percent, followed closely by Orr at 36.27 percent of the vote. Orr was the first mayor in 20 years to win two consecutive terms. He was running for his third term. The other candidates, Larry Hall and Darla Neises won a significant number of votes, 15.02 percent and 10.90 percent, which may have been a factor in the election.
The Village of Bolingbrook also saw a close race for mayor. Incumbent Roger Claar held off challenger Jacqueline Traynere by 62 votes. He received 50.25 percent to Traynere's 49.75 percent of the vote.
The Bolingbrook Clerk's and Trustees' races were also close, with incumbent Clerk Carol Penning losing to challenger Jaime Olson by 24 votes. Olson received 50.10 percent of the vote. In the trustees' race, six candidates battled for three seats. Incumbents Michael Lawler and Maria Zarate and newcomer Robert Jaskiewicz won the race with 17.19 percent, 17.03 percent and 16.79 percent of the vote. Jaskiewicz was closely followed by Terri Ransom, who garnered 16.78 percent of the vote.
While the unofficial results are posted, with all precincts reporting in and the Will County Clerk website updated at 8:52 p.m. on April 4, the election results will not be official until Tuesday April 25.
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