Kaupas edges out Ficarello in Republican sheriff's race; Kelley wins Democratic primary

UPDATE POSTED 10:20 A.M. WEDNESDAY

It appears Ken Kaupas won a nail-biter of a Republican primary for Will County Sheriff late Tuesday.

Kaupas held a slight lead of Nick Ficarello for most of the evening, but Ficarello moved ahead by 20 votes before early and in-person absentee ballots were added.

Election computers suffered technical problems when those votes were uploaded, leading to over an hour of uncertainty for both camps. When the counts were done, Kaupas received 20,388 votes of 50.27 percent to Ficarello's 20,165 votes or 49.73 percent.

However, the final vote total won't be known until April 8 when absentee ballots postmarked before Tuesday and votes from a very small portion of Aurora that is inside Will County are included.

In a message posted online Wednesday morning, Ficarello asked supporters to "stay tuned" as those votes were counted.

Kaupas is a 26-year-veteran of the state police who is now a deputy chief in the sheriff's office. Current sheriff Paul Kaupas is his second cousin. Ficarello spent 31 years on the sheriff's police and retired as a deputy chief in 2009.

Mike Kelley won the Democrat primary over Ed Bradley and Steve Egan with about 40 percent of the vote.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED TUESDAY NIGHT

Ken Kaupas appeared to win a nail-biter in the Republican primary for Will County Sheriff, ending Tuesday night with less than a 1 percent margin of victory.

Meanwhile, Democrat Mike Kelley was the clear winner in that primary.

In the Republican race, Nick Ficarello trailed by 223 votes. But more votes still are to be counted.

Provisional ballots, late-arriving absentee ballots, and Will County votes from the city of Aurora still will be counted. Whether they are enough to change the outcome was unclear.

Kaupas had 50.27 percent of the vote. Ficarello had 49.73 percent.

The outcome of the race was put on hold more than an hour when a computer glitch at the Will County Clerk's office delayed the posting of final results. At that point, it appeared Ficarello was ahead by 20 votes. But absentee ballots and early voting had not yet been factored into the totals.

The Democratic primary had been settled before the final votes were counted because Kelley had such a large lead.

Kelley ended the night with 40 percent of the vote.

The other two candidates, Steve Egan and Ed Bradley, each took about 30 percent of the vote.Egan was slightly ahead with 30.44 percent compared to Bradley's 29.48 percent.

Kelley said he felt being “the only true Democrat” gave him the support he needed to win the primary.

“With Egan running as a Republican four years ago and Bradley’s voting record (which includes Republican elections), I think they sent a message that just won’t get you welcomed with open arms,” Kelley said.

Egan called Kelley and left a message conceding the race around 9 p.m. Bradley was also planning to call to “wish him luck.” Egan and Bradley both felt Kelley’s first spot on the ballot may have given him more votes.

“I’m still wrapping my head around the defeat, but I am proud of how I ran the campaign,” Egan said.

Current Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas, Ken Kaupas’ second cousin, chose not to seek a fourth term.

Ficarello, of Manhattan, served 31 years with the sheriff’s police. He was later director of campus security at Lewis University and is currently a part-time patrol officer in Posen.

Kaupas, of Shorewood, served 26 years with the Illinois State Police and retired as a captain. He is now the sheriff’s deputy chief in charge of public affairs and special operations.

Ficarello made a campaign issue of Kaupas’ 10-day suspension from the state police in 2002. Kaupas was accused of pressuring his secretary to farm out transcription work to off-duty employees while they kept a finder’s fee. Kaupas’ disciplinary report on was posted on Ficarello’s campaign website.

“I believe Ken Kaupas would not be able to pass a background check for a probationary officer on the sheriff’s department based on his past history, much less qualify to run for sheriff,” Ficarello said.

Kaupas criticized Ficarello for the “unguided missile” of the 2004 Riley Fox homicide when he ran investigations. The 3-year-old girl’s father was pressured by detectives to confess and spent months in jail before being released once DNA tests were completed.

The Board of Elections reports Kaupas had over $15,000 at the end of 2013, while Ficarello had over $9,000. Ficarello spent $3,500 on signs and $200 on Facebook advertisements during that time.

Bradley, the University Park police chief who spent 21 years with the sheriff’s office, lost a three-way primary by slightly more than one percentage point four years ago.

Egan, a lieutenant with 24 years on the sheriff’s department, ran against Paul Kaupas in the Republican primary that time.

Kelley, who had the support of every Democrat holding countywide office, has been a deputy for 26 years. He is a Lockport Township trustee and previously served four years as a Lockport alderman.

The state Board of Elections last quarterly report said Egan had raised over $30,000 by the end of last year, while Kelley had over $7,000 during that same time period. Kelley spent over $2,000 on campaign brochures last fall.

The state board did not list a quarterly report from Bradley’s campaign.