Mixed bag for DuPage County board GOP races
A mass infusion of cash by DuPage County Chairman Robert Schillerstrom into the campaigns of various Republican county board challengers and incumbents had varying degrees of success Tuesday.
Schillerstrom donated more than $140,000 to six of the 16 candidates vying for 10 contested seats in five districts.
The top two vote-getters in each race move onto the November election where they vie for one of the two four-year terms available in each in district. Only the District 5 race won't have a Democratic challenger on the ballot.
Incumbents win
Both incumbents in District 2 held on to win the GOP nomination for their seats, one by the skin of his teeth.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial results from the District 2 race indicate incumbent Pat O'Shea won the four-candidate race with 9,774 votes. Also hanging on to his seat was incumbent Brien Sheahan, with 8,992.
Challenger Laura Fitzpatrick had 8,826, while Anna Marie Manzo was a distant fourth with 5,145.
Schillerstrom dropped the majority of donations into this race. He gave $65,000 to Fitzpatrick and floated her a $25,000 loan. He also gave more than $18,000 to O'Shea for "mailers," according to the state board of election's web site.
Sheahan was the target of Schillerstrom's ire. At least two mailings were dispatched from Schillerstrom's campaign attacking the two-term incumbent's voting record. In turn, Sheahan issued press releases accusing the chairman of various improprieties.
Bennington out
Woodridge village Trustee John Curran beat out incumbent Tom Bennington for one of the Republican board nominations in District 3.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial results from District 3's race show Curran with 10,363 votes. Incumbent Michael McMahon had 10,460 votes to reclaim his seat.
Bennington trailed with 7,609.
Bennington and McMahon benefited from Schillerstrom's generosity in this race as well. Both received $12,500 donations from the chairman's war chest.
Challenger denied
Incumbents Debra Olson and Grant Eckhoff handily defeated challenger Mary Dickson in the District 4 Republican race.
Unofficial results show Olson with 13,882, Eckhoff had 12,050 to retain a spot on the ballot in November.
Dickson trailed both with 7,609 votes.
Schillerstrom donated $5,000 to Dickson's campaign. Eckhoff and Olson were part of a county board faction that opposed Schillerstrom's budget proposal for the upcoming year.
Ticket wins
James Healy/Gerry Cassioppi GOP ticket won in District 5.
Unofficial tallies show Healy with 11,357 and Cassioppi with 9,515, with all precincts reporting.
Challenger Joe Wozniak trailed with 8,641 votes.
Healy is an incumbent county board member, while Cassioppi is a former Naperville Unit District 203 school board member. Wozniak is a perennial GOP candidate in a variety of races who is currently serving his first term as a regional school board trustee.
Last year, Healy submitted an alternate budget plan to Schillerstrom's budget proposal. Healy's plan did not gain a majority foothold, but a number of board members did side with him when it came to a vote.
Newcomer wins
An incumbent and a political novice won the GOP primary for two seats in District 6.
Incumbent James Zay had 9,262 votes, while Robert Larsen colected 8,049.
Trailing was Pam Fenner, with 7,774.
Zay is the only incumbent board member in this race. Longtime board member Pam Rion is stepping down from the board after the November election.
Zay was the only candidate in this race to receive donations from Schillerstrom.
Larsen is a Marine reservist and an attorney practicing in Warrenville.