Newcomer Penesis leading in race for Kane County Board District 16 seat

Unofficial vote totals have Democrat Ted Penesis of South Elgin leading Republican Eric Stare in the race for Kane County Board District 16.

With all precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals as of 4 p.m. Nov. 8 showed Penesis leading with 4,968 votes over Stare with 4,403 votes. Turnout was 71.18%.

After the election, Penesis said going door to door, meeting people face to face and listening to their concerns was the most effective part of his campaign.

Penesis said the biggest concerns that residents have are taxes and they seemed responsive to his ideas for how the county can cut taxes. He said the county’s biggest challenge will be the budget.

“Matching revenues with expenses has been a problem for literally decades,” Penesis said. “So that’s going to be the biggest problem.”

Penesis said looking at ideas for ways to raise revenue rather than taxes will be key to solving that problem. He said wise spending and making sure businesses are as successful as they can be will help lessen the tax burden on residents.

“Making a difference in peoples’ lives is why I did this in the first place,” Penesis said. “I think this is where I can make an impact on peoples’ lives in a positive way, so that’s really what I’m looking forward to. I’m really excited about that.”