Unofficial totals show Monica Silva leading the race for Kane County Coroner

Unofficial vote totals show Democrat Monica Silva leading incumbent Republican Rob Russell in the race for Kane County Coroner.

As of 4 p.m. Nov. 8, with all precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals showed Silva leading with 110,085 votes over Russell with 105,532 votes.

Silva had taken an early lead thanks to early voters and mail-in ballots, but the race became neck and neck by 9 p.m. Nov. 5 and remained close until the final precincts were reported.

Silva said election night was a roller coaster of emotions, but in the end she had to trust the campaign that she and her team ran.

Connecting with voters was what Silva said was the most effective part of her campaign. She said she was proud of the positive energy they put out and received, especially from young voters.

“The connection with the voter is something that always makes or breaks a candidate,” Silva said. “I feel we were really good at being able to deliver our message.”

Silva said her priorities include promoting awareness for mental health, the fentanyl crisis, suicide prevention for veterans and reducing preventable deaths.

Silva said her first challenges are to continue delivering the results that the community expects while working within the budget and to make sure the people in her department have the resources they need to do their jobs. She said the Kane County Board has done a great job of providing those resources without raising taxes.

“I’m very eager to continue to work with young people and continue to work in the community to bring awareness,” Silva said. “I’m eager to use my public health background and to have a very strong presence within the community and share in the highs and the lows, not only when something has gone wrong, but also in the celebrations.”

Silva said she couldn’t have done it without the Democratic party, but noted they had a large Republican voter crossover.

“While party politics does play a role in elections, we also have to have candidates that appeal across party lines,” Silva said. “We can’t just appeal to only Democrats or only Republicans. We have to have that crossover appeal and we have to deliver.”

Looking forward to the next four years, Silva said she will continue to be who she is: a public servant and an advocate for the needs of the community. She said she is the type of person who thirsts for knowledge and will seek out training and certifications, but plans to begin by sitting back, listening and observing how things work and learning from staff and investigators.

One of Silva’s main goals is to be more present in the community. She said she wants to be the face of the office and hopes to transition from the office being associated with tragedy to being the face of awareness and prevention.

“I’m very, very proud of the campaigns that coroner Russell and I ran,” Silva said. “I thank him for his service. He’s done a great job and I look forward to working with him in the transition. I think this is how politics should work. Focusing on the issues, focusing on what we each bring to the table and letting the voters decide.”