McHenry County mayors (mostly) fended off ballot box challenges. Who’s winning and who’s trailing?

Several McHenry County-area mayors and village presidents faced and fended off ballot-box challenges – but not all. Here’s a look at how the voters spoke in several communities, in unofficial results. Most of the remaining write-in and mail-in votes are expected to be counted by April 15, though votes won’t be official until after the April 22 canvass.

McHenry

Incumbent Mayor Wayne Jett declared victory less than two hours after the polls closed Tuesday evening, and his wide margin of victory against 4th Ward Alderwoman Chris Bassi never wavered as the results rolled in. With remaining mail-in ballots still to be counted, Jett is leading with about 75% of the vote, to about 25% for Bassi.

The three aldermanic candidates that Jett backed are also ahead, though two of those races remain very tight.

In Ward 5, Alderman Andy Davis, appointed to the seat in May following the resignation of Shawn Strach, pulled far ahead of challenger Christopher Moore, a Landmark School parent, by a margin close to Jett’s.

But in Ward 1, Jett-backed Bobbi Baehne is ahead of Mark Seaquist by just 20 votes. In Ward 3, incumbent Ald. Frank McClatchey is currently 44 votes behind Stephen Doherty, whom Jett supports. In those two races, any additional mail-in ballots yet to be counted could potentially turn the tide.

Jett, who poised to start his third term, said he’s hopeful the candidates with whom he ran on an informal slate will prevail.

“It would be great to have that support, to continue to do the things we have done and a collaborative effort to get things done with more transparency,” Jett said.

Regardless of the outcome of the mayoral race, Bassi retains the seat on the McHenry City Council. She was elected to the role in 2023.

Cary

Cary's mayor of 12 years, Mark Kownick, is on the path toward another term with a sizable lead over challenger and local business owner Randy Scott.

In unofficial results, Kownick gained about 66% of the vote.

“I think the voters trust my judgment, and the results show that,” he said. “This is a landslide.”

Scott is a former firefighter for the Cary Fire Protection District and is the owner of the ice cream shop Cary Dairy, at 395 Cary Algonquin Road. He first announced his bid to run for Cary mayor in July against Kownick who is nearing to serve his fourth term. Kownick was previously a village trustee before becoming the mayor in 2013.

Kownick’s experience includes serving on the boards of the Illinois Municipal League, McHenry County Council of Governments and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. Kownick’s vision of Cary has led to milestones like getting a new train station, a regional police training facility and updating the downtown area.

His vision of making Cary a home rule community failed after last year’s referendum vote, with 75% of residents voting against it. Village officials aimed to use home rule to implement a 1% retail tax to fund services such as road infrastructure maintenance, plowing, wastewater treatment and public safety.

A major stress point in the village is the future development of the long-shuttered Maplewood school property. Nearby residents have expressed discontent over a high-density apartment complex, and Kownick has promised to hear their concerns as the village moves forward with negotiations with the developer. The mayor has also defended the plan, saying it fits with the nearby train station and downtown businesses and it was identified as a want by residents through past comprehensive plans.

Scott, a newcomer in politics, got involved after a sign dispute between the village and his business, Cary Dairy, led to a lawsuit that is still ongoing. In the lawsuit, the village claims Cary Dairy has a sign that violates the village’s ordinance because it’s 400% larger than the allowed size. The village issued multiple notices and citations totaling to $5,250 in fines over two years and filed legal action in McHenry County court in March 2023.

McHenry County Judge Kevin Costello found that Scott violated the sign ordinance last year and ruled against Scott after he failed to appear at a court hearing, court records show. The sign is still covered by tarp to this day and payment for the citation is still pending, according to court records. Scott could not be reached for comment.

Cary’s Village Board will see few changes after an uncontested race Tuesday that saw incumbents Duane “Rick” Dudek and Rick Walrath retain their seats, while newcomer David Prusina will take over Jennifer Weinhammer’s seat. Weinhammer revealed at a board meeting last month she had planned to run for mayor but that ultimately fell through. Prusina previously tried for a village board seat in 2023.

Huntley

Huntley Village President Tim Hoeft is far ahead of Trustee John Piwko in Hoeft’s run for a second term.

Hoeft maintains a roughly 68% to 32% lead in the McHenry County side of the village, with 1,515 votes to Piwko’s 726. On the Kane County side, Hoeft leads 1,139 votes to 422 votes, a roughly 73%-27% breakdown.

Hoeft, who defeated then-incumbent Village President Chuck Sass four years ago, touted Huntley’s achievements over the course of his term, such as the redevelopment of some of the properties in town, such as the Cornell Apartments, during the campaign. Hoeft declared victory on Facebook late Tuesday.

Piwko, who was a trustee from 2007 to 2021 and returned to the board in 2023, has said he ran against Hoeft because some of his ideas as a trustee have been ignored or very scaled back. Piwko will remain on the board.

The impending Kreutzer Road project, which is slated to be the largest public works project in Huntley history was among the larger areas of difference between the candidates. Piwko said he advocated for speeding up the project and Hoeft has said Huntley has hit every deadline on their end on the project and there’s nothing Huntley could have done from a financial or infrastructure program standpoint to move it along any faster.

The Huntley Village Board had three seats up this year, but incumbents Ronda Goldman and Harry Leopold didn’t run again. Incumbent JR Westberg and newcomers Marilynn Berendt and Don Walz ran unopposed. Walz, who sits on the Huntley plan commission, and Berendt will be seated in May.

Hebron

Hebron is one community where the incumbent appears not to have prevailed.

In 2021, Robert Shelton won the Hebron village president seat with 72% of the vote, vowing to slash the police department he and others said had grown too large for the tiny village on the Wisconsin border.

Shelton appears to have lost handily to planning and zoning committee member Steve Morris, one of three candidates for the village president slot. Unofficial results show Morris winning the seat with 63% of the vote.

The third candidate, former 16-year Village President Frank M. Beatty, was running second with 29% of the votes. Beatty was ousted in 2013.

The Hebron Police Department emptied out during Shelton’s time in office, going from a mix of about a dozen full and part-time officers to, currently, a chief of police and one sergeant who is out on medical leave. The village is contracting with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office for additional patrol. On Tuesday, residents seem to have said that pendulum swung too far in a particularly contentious campaign.

“Contentious would be the politically correct term. At times it was downright ... vicious,” Morris said Tuesday night. “I have done my best to stay above the fray and try to run a nice, clean campaign.”

Hebron is known for dirty politics, he said. “People are just tired of it.”

After Morris is sworn in next month – along with Village Board incumbents Jonathan Mindham and Dawn Milarski and newcomer Edward Gentry – Morris plans to address the policing issues, he said.

“The village as a whole is not happy with the chief,” Morris said, referring to Peter Goldman. Goldman was named chief of police in November, four months after the previous chief, Juanita Gumble, was ousted by a majority vote, a move that proved unpopular with many in the community.

Morris wants a department that is a “happy medium” between the past “overblown department and what we have now,” Morris said.

“I have a couple of people in mind” for the chief of police job, Morris said, adding he intends to appoint an interim chief. “I will appoint in interim police chief and the former chief re-write the book on hiring guidelines,” he said. “None of her policies were followed by the current administration.”

Morris will likely be able to name an additional village board member, replacing Mark Mogan, who resigned in February.

Shelton could not be reached for comment.

McHenry County mayors (mostly) fended off ballot box challenges. Who’s winning and who’s trailing?

McHenry

Cary

Huntley

Hebron

Algonquin

Barrington Hills

Fox Lake

Fox River Grove

Harvard

Holiday Hills

Island Lake

Johnsburg

Lake in the Hills

Lakemoor

Lakewood

Marengo

McCullom Lake

Oakwood Hills

Port Barrington

Prairie Grove

Richmond

Ringwood

Spring Grove

Union

Woodstock