By Dee Longfellow
For The Independent
At 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with 100% of precincts reporting, the Presidential race had already been declared for Joe Biden in the state of Illinois by many national media outlets. Still the final tally across the nation was not complete at that time, so the race was not officially over until Saturday, Nov. 7.
While DuPage County has typically leaned toward Republican candidates, Democrat Biden received 276,902 votes to President Donald Trump’s 191,618. At press time, the Republican president was still planning to contest the results.
Illinois’ national representatives
In Federal races, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin held his seat, earning 54.67% of the vote in DuPage over his Republican opponent Mark C. Curran, Jr.
In Congressional races, Democrat Mike Quigley was winning another term over Tommy Hanson in the 5th District, but the numbers only showed DuPage County, whereas he represents a portion of Cook County, too.
The same applies to 8th District, where DuPage delivered more than 69,600 votes to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is a Democrat. Even with their Cook County portions, Quigley and Krishnamoorthi both retained their seats.
Voters also had their eyes on the race in the 6th Congressional District, where Democrat Sean Casten garnered 55% of the vote over Jeanne Ives, winning 112,015 votes to 89,656.
In the state
In the race for State Representative in Illinois’ 45th District, Republican Seth Lewis beat Diane Pappas by almost 4000 votes, which was almost 54% of the total ballots cast.
The race in the 47th District was equally decisive as State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi held her seat over Democrat Jennifer Zordani by more than 4500 votes representing nearly 54% of the total.
Republican Peter Breen appeared to be taking a loss in the 48th District, attempting to take the seat he had held previously. But incumbent Terra Costa Howard received in excess of 53% of the total, winning by more than 4500 votes.
Kathleen Willis received more than 60% of the vote in the 77th State Representative District, leaving Anthony Airdo in the dust by 8924 to 5800.
DuPage County races
The race for DuPage County Circuit Court Clerk proved to be a shock for long-time supporters of incumbent Chris Kachiroubas, who has held the seat since 2004. Kachiroubas’ race ended in defeat to Democrat Candice Adams, who received 232,535 to 227,195.
Also at the County level, Board member Donald E. Puchalski held his seat over Democrat Zahra Suratwala to represent District 1. In District 2, Sean T. Noonan took a fall to Democratic challenger Paul Deacon Garcia, who won 43,190 to 40,906.
Propositions
One of the most hotly-contested races was the Constitutional Amendment about income tax rates, also known as the “Fair Tax vs. Flat Tax” vote. In DuPage County, almost 60% of voters said “No,” preferring not to make a change but rather to retain a flat tax in Illinois. At press time, the vote was 216,912 to 194,918.
DuPage County’s #1 Proposition to Support Law Enforcement was approved with 74% of the vote. That means voters elected to have DuPage County make financial support of law enforcement and public safety its top budgeting priority in the future.
The County’s #2 Proposition PPE Stockpile garnered approval with almost 90% of the vote. In other words, voters believe DuPage County should obtain a stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) for nursing homes, first responders, healthcare providers and others who may not be able to obtain it.
The #3 Proposition to Fund Law Enforcement in DuPage County received 90% of the vote. This was a Proposition to continue to fund and support training methods for local law enforcement agencies.
The Village of Lombard’s Proposition to permit video gaming was approved 11,957 to 10,857, a difference of about 1100 votes.
In York Township, a Proposition about Senior Tax passed with 82%. The Proposition for Climate Change in York Township was also approved, garnering just over 67% of the vote.
A Proposition to increase the extension limitation of Bensenville Fire District #2 was approved 3115 to 2300.
A similar Proposition for the Wood Dale Fire District was denied, with 3547 voters saying ‘No,’ to the 2778 voting ‘Yes.’
[Ed. note: Mail-in ballots will be counted up until Nov. 17, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 3. Until that time, all results are unofficial. These results were taken from the DuPage County Board of Elections.]
