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Mendrick apparent GOP nominee for DuPage sheriff

Patrol Cmdr. James Mendrick on Tuesday defeated another supervisor in the DuPage County sheriff's office to become the Republican nominee for sheriff.

With 100 percent of the precincts tallied, Mendrick had roughly 60 percent of the vote to the nearly 40 percent garnered by Undersheriff Frank Bibbiano.

The GOP nominee will advance to the November general election to face Democrat Gregory Whalen in the race to replace longtime Sheriff John Zaruba, who is retiring after more than two decades in office.

Mendrick, 47, lives in Woodridge and is a 21-year veteran of the sheriff's office. Bibbiano, 44, who lives in Elmhurst, is an 18-year veteran of the sheriff's office.

When Mendrick announced his intention to run three years ago, he had Zaruba's support. But then Mendrick had a falling out with his boss and Zaruba ended up endorsing Bibbiano. Mendrick, meanwhile, had the backing of county board Chairman Dan Cronin.

During the campaign, both candidates said they would work more closely with the county board, which allocates funding for the department.

Mendrick said he already has talked to Cronin and county board members about his budget solutions. One of those proposals calls for nonviolent jail inmates with mental health issues to be treated at private facilities.

In addition, Mendrick said the sheriff's office could save money by joining municipal police departments to make equipment purchases. He also wants the sheriff's office to get more drug-detection dogs to assist municipal police departments.

Both candidates agreed that opioids are a huge problem and the sheriff's office must lead efforts to address it.

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