Moreno, incumbents top vote-getters in Joliet election

First-time candidate Juan Moreno joined two incumbents as top vote-getters in the Tuesday election for three seats on the Joliet City Council.

Incumbent council members Joe Clement and Jan Quillman were headed for reelection, according to the unofficial vote count.

If the lead holds up after final mail-in votes are counted, Moreno, Clement and Quillman will hold the three at-large seats on the council.

Damon Zdunich, a businessman who had the endorsement of Mayor Terry D’Arcy and other prominent figures in Joliet, finished fourth.

Moreno, Clement and Quillman all had labor union backing, appearing together in campaign handouts and gathering together with supporters Tuesday night at a party to watch election results.

Moreno, a truck driver and Teamster himself, said the union backing helped, but he credited his apparent victory to “hard work and perseverance.”

“Seven days a week, knocking on doors, talking to people and hearing their concerns,” he said, adding that all three candidates made an appeal to “working people.”

Moreno finished the night with the second-most votes at 4,353.

Clement was the top vote-getter with 4,387.

“I just want to thank all the citizens of Joliet who supported me,” Clement said. “I think I did everything I said I would do.”

Quillman had 4,246 votes.

“It was a trying election,” Quillman said, adding that she had been the target of unfair criticism but noting, “I’m glad the citizens have confidence in me for another term.”

The three candidates held the top three positions all night with close to the same numbers as results came in, an indication that voters may have voted for them as a bloc.

Zdunich finished fourth at 3,844 votes.

“I was disappointed,” Zduinich said. “I thought we’d do better. I thought we ran a clean, issue-oriented campaign. The voters have spoken. I just want to thank all the people who supported me.”

Glenda Wright-McCullum, board chair at the Housing Authority of Joliet, was running fifth at 3,084 votes.

The race also featured two write-in candidates, Jim Lanham and Larry Crawford, but they did not have much affect on the results.

Total write-in votes cast were 514.

The Will County Clerk’s Office will count the write-in votes later this week.

The at-large members are elected citywide.

The third at-large member of the council, Cesar Guerrero, opted not to run for reelection, as he was facing a challenge to his nominating petitions and instead ran for Joliet Township supervisor. He appeared to win the seat by a large margin after the Tuesday vote tally.