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Now that polls are closed, here are five things to watch in McHenry County as the results come in:
1/ Will voters approve a tax proposal for the McHenry County Conservation District?
District officials asked voters to allow the district to increase its property tax levy by more than the tax cap would otherwise allow. The district has said that the amount property owners pay in taxes to the district will still go down because of the retirement of some debt. But taxes would go down more without the new money, which the district wants to use to help protect open space and water quality, among other things. But with voters countywide having just approved a sales tax increase in April, will another tax proposal fly?
2/ Will the GOP increase its seats on the county board?
Three of the five seats by Democrats were on the ballot this year. But one of the incumbent, Kelli Wegener, gave up her District 5 seat to run for chair against incumbent Mike Buehler. That could leave that seat particularly vulnerable to flipping back to Republicans with no incumbent in the mix.
3/ Will McHenry County become less red?
The county has traditionally been a Republican stronghold, but the margins of victory for Republican presidential candidates has gotten smaller in recent elections, and the rest of the collar counties, which also used to be solidly red, have all become predominantly blue over the last couple of decades. Will the same happen in McHenry County?
4/ Can Mike Buehler hold off a challenge from Kelli Wegener?
Four years ago, Buehler, in his first run for public office, won the McHenry County Board chairmanship by beating Jack Franks, who himself was a rare example of a Democrat winning countywide elected office. Can Wegener manage to flip the seat back to Democratic?
5/ Will Cary School District 26 voters OK a building bond request?
The school district has had a rough time lately with a long-running conflict with the village over its plans for the former Maplewood School site. Will it have better luck convincing local voters to allow it to borrow $20 million for school improvement projects?