Incumbents, newcomers elected to Maine Township District 207 school board

Two incumbents and two newcomers claimed four seats on the Maine Township High School District on Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

With all 102 precincts reporting, incumbents Carla Owen and Jin Lee and newcomers Linda Coyle and Aurora Austriaco won 4-year terms.

Coyle, of Park Ridge, led the candidates with 11,384 votes followed by Owen of Park Ridge with 11,021; Lee of Des Plaines with 8,763; and Austriaco of Park Ridge with 8,384. Austriaco ran as a Democrat for state representative in 2008.

Des Plaines resident Dan Gott, who ran as a Republican for state representative in 2016, was edged out of the race with 7,937 votes. An endorsement from conservative radio talk show host and former Congressman Joe Walsh wasn't enough to help Gott earn a spot.

As with many school board races across the suburbs, the state's budget impasse and education funding proposals in Springfield loomed large.

With the contract for District 207 teachers, who are among the suburbs' highest-paid, expiring in 2020, and needed capital improvement plans for the district's three high schools, the next four years could be consequential for the district.

Coyle, a Park Ridge attorney, and Gott sought to differentiate themselves as fiscal conservatives.

Incumbents Owen and Lee touted the district's strong financial standing and excelling high schools as reasons to re-elect them to the school board.