Kerston Russell holds solid lead in Mundelein board race

In a race that primarily focused on the local economy, Mundelein voters selected the town's newest trustees Tuesday.

With ballots in all 21 precincts counted, unofficial totals showed Kerston Russell, Dakotah Norton and Bill Rekus were the top three vote-getters in the race for three seats. Another candidate, Paul Roscoe, was fourth.

Russell, a Utah native who works in sales, had the most support with 848 votes.

Russell said he believes he and the other two winning candidates came out on top because they care about local businesses and can think "outside the box."

Rekus, who is a member of the village's plan commission, placed second with 791 votes. He'll have to resign from the commission.

Norton, a blogger and entrepreneur, was third with 770 votes.

The 25-year-old Norton was the youngest candidate by decades and he campaigned on that youth. In a tactic usually saved for class president campaigns, Norton offered cupcakes to the attendees of a recent candidate forum at Mundelein High School.

Roscoe was fourth with 614 votes.

The need to fill vacant storefronts was one of the race's biggest issues. So was the poor state of many of the village's streets.