Skillicorn, Ruffulo, Lynam win in E. Dundee

A challenger in the six-way race for East Dundee trustee has unseated a one-term incumbent who was also vying for one of three seats.

With all four precincts reporting in Kane County, newcomer Allen Skillicorn beat out Trustee John Cichowski. Incumbents Michael Ruffulo and Jeff Lynam were also winners — Skillicorn had 294 votes, Ruffulo had 276 votes and Lynam had 217 votes, according to unofficial results.

Skillicorn said his stance on red-light cameras helped him cruise to victory — he opposes the two already in existence.

“I think that the voters . . . were not very excited about gimmicks like the stoplight cameras,” Skillicorn said.

Cichowski, who touted bringing family friendly events to the village, was the lowest vote-getter with 120 votes and could not be reached Tuesday night. Challengers Dan Selep and Patrick Clarke had 174 votes and 142 votes, respectively.

Among the issues that differentiated the candidates was their take on red-light cameras. Ruffulo, Cichowski and Selep defended use of the two cameras in East Dundee, but Skillicorn, Clarke and Lynam say there is no evidence they keep the roads safer and are opposed to adding more.

This election cycle was not without drama. Clarke, removed from the ballot in 2009 for binding his petitions with a clip instead of a staple, tried to get Lynam and Selep thrown out of the race.