Darch leads write-in Kozel in Barrington

Barrington Village President Karen Darch appears to have prevailed over write-in challenger Mike Kozel Tuesday in her bid for a third term.

Darch received 627 votes of the 1,064 ballots cast in Cook County and an additional 644 votes in Lake County.

Both she and Kozel agreed that her votes represented the majority of the ballots cast, though the number of write-in votes the challenger received may not be known for certain until Friday.

“I’m a realist,” Kozel said. “This was an opportunity to get a message out, and we reached a lot of people. In two years there’ll be another election.”

“We figured we won,” Darch said of a comparison between her votes and the number of voters who visited polling places Tuesday. “We’ve been celebrating.”

Courtney Greve, a spokeswoman for Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office, said the total number of write-in ballots cast Tuesday would likely be known sometime Wednesday. But it won’t be until after the official canvass Friday that Kozel’s vote total will be known, she said.

Kozel began his campaign as a trustee candidate along with running mates Jim Magnanenzi and Jo Ann Fletcher. But after all three were removed from the ballot for not filing statements of economic interest on time, Kozel challenged Darch as a write-in candidate.

From the time his trustee campaign began in August all the way through last weekend, Kozel’s platform has centered around the need for more rental apartments in downtown Barrington. He also criticized the village board for approving a retail project at the corner of Hough and Main streets that called for office space on its upper floors.

The developer of the project and Darch said there is reason to believe the market will sustain the more unique type of office space planned and that the project won’t begin until half the space is leased.

Kozel also criticized Darch for the village’s use of litigation rather than negotiation with Canadian National in the fight over increased freight train traffic, and for failing to resolve a dispute with the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District that could lead to the end of its contractual relationship with the village. Darch said she believes the dispute with the fire district eventually will be resolved to both sides’ benefit.