December 19, 2024
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DeKalb County Board District 1 candidates react to election results

Maureen Little, Bradley Robert Belanger and Frederick “Fred” W. Hall were the leading vote-getters among GOP and Democratic voters in the June 28 primary election, respectively.

By Megann Horstead
Election 2024
Kori Rempfer, (left) chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Party, Shell DeYoung Dunn, candidate for County Board District 11, and Stewart Ogilvie, candidate for County Board District 4, wait for election returns to start coming in Tuesday, June 28, 2022, during a Democrat candidate watch party at Fatty's Pub and Grille in DeKalb.

Kori Rempfer, (left) chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Party, Shell DeYoung Dunn, candidate for County Board District 11, and Stewart Ogilvie, candidate for County Board District 4, wait for election returns to start coming in Tuesday, June 28, 2022, during a Democrat candidate watch party at Fatty's Pub and Grille in DeKalb. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

DeKALB – Tuesday’s primary election may have prompted a low voter turnout, but the candidates vying for the DeKalb County Board’s District 1 seats say they are feeling good about how the night went.

Only one contested primary race saw enough candidates to be ousted ahead of November: District 1, which includes Franklin Township, Kingston, South Grove, Mayfield and Malta townships.

Unofficial results show incumbent Maureen Little leading the way with 487 of the vote for District 1, followed by Bradley Robert Belanger with 463 votes, incumbent candidate Lawrence Mark West with 331 and Jordan Dobberstein with 260. Democrat Frederick Hall netted 308 votes.

Voters in November will be asked to choose two candidates to represent each of DeKalb County’s 12 districts.

Hall, who’s from Malta, said he believes his campaign resonated well with the voters.

“I think there are several things that resonated with them,” Hall said. “One was they don’t want to lose any of their freedoms. I think they’re concerned about inflation. And with the state of Illinois, I think they’re concerned about having their voting rights restricted. We’re seeing a lot of voter rights restricted in states where they have Republican secretaries of state.”

Republican Little, from Kingston, said she believes her track record on the County Board speaks volumes and is why voters turned out for her.

“I’ve been in it for awhile,” Little said. “I do a lot for my community. I’m always available. I get phone calls all the time. So, my name recognition is there. I work very hard for my community. I care a lot about my community.”

Hall said he is committed to making sure that he is accessible to all voters if he is elected to the County Board.

“I’m going to insist that my phone number be out there so that people who have a problem or a complaint can get ahold of me to say or do something,” Hall said.

Little said some of the top issues facing voters as they headed to the polls were the economy and the DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. The county-owned nursing home has been the subject of almost a year of debate as it battles financial shortfalls and a potential sale to a private owner. The County Board is expected to take up the sale vote at a special meeting in July.

Neither Hall or Little said they anticipate a change in voter turnout heading into the fall.

As the unofficial tallies provided by the county clerk’s office do not include any of the expected 700 mail-in ballots, candidates must wait two weeks until votes are certified after the election.