Former Mundelein trustee Kim running for Lake County treasurer
Former Mundelein Trustee Holly Kim has announced she'll run for Lake County treasurer next year.
Kim, a Democrat, will challenge first-term incumbent David Stolman, a Buffalo Grove Republican.
She declared her candidacy over the weekend on Facebook. In her announcement, Kim touted her public and private sector management experience.
She also pledged, if elected, to donate $40,000 of the treasurer's salary to Lake County civic groups such as the Jaycees, Kiwanis and Rotary.
Stolman is set to collect a $124,755 salary this year. The salary is set by the county board regardless of who holds the post.
Stolman was elected treasurer in 2014. He previously had spent 22 years as a Lake County Board member, including two as its chairman.
Stolman on Monday said he plans to seek re-election.
Earlier this year, Kim narrowly lost the race for mayor in Mundelein, falling to incumbent Mayor Steve Lentz by a five-vote margin.
After that election, she was hired as Vernon Township's first director of constituent affairs. She oversees the township's food pantry, its publicity and social media efforts, senior services and many other resident-related programs.
Kim previously managed marketing and communications for a nonprofit health care group.
She was elected to the Mundelein village board in 2013 and served until May. This is her first bid for a partisan elected office.
Throughout her political career, Kim has expressed libertarian views. But this summer, Kim announced she was joining the Democratic Party ahead of an eventual run for a then-unspecified elected post.
"I am, at heart, socially liberal and fiscally conservative, and that shaped some of my decision," Kim told the Daily Herald. "Democrat or Republican, working with others to solve problems is the priority."
The primary election is in March and the general election in November 2018.