Palmer edging Kelly in battle for auditor post

Pam Palmer appeared likely to claim victory late Tuesday night in her hard-fought campaign to win the Republican nomination for McHenry County auditor.

Palmer, the auditor since 2006, led Richard Kelly Jr. with 55 percent of the vote with about 96 percent of Tuesday's votes tallied.

However, with perhaps thousands of ballots from early voters left to be counted, it was too soon to declare a winner Tuesday.

If her lead holds, Palmer will seek her first full term as elected auditor in November's general election.

She was appointed to the post in February 2006 after the resignation for predecessor Ruth Rooney and then elected to serve the rest of her term nine months later.

Prior to her appointment, Palmer served as Rooney's chief deputy for eight years.

A Union resident, Palmer said her campaign offering specific plans for what she hopes to accomplish in the next four years resonated with voters.

"I think people recognized the fact that I have an agenda for what I want to do with the auditor's office," she said. "I think I've done a good job so far, but I also think I have a lot left to prove."

Kelly, an attorney from Crystal Lake and chairman of the county's zoning board of appeals, questioned her independence, going as far as to label her a "puppet" to political supporters like county Treasurer Bill LeFew.

Some of his complaints stemmed from Palmer's handling of expenses by the office of McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi.

After approving many of the offices expenses later deemed questionable, Palmer refused to grant Bianchi reimbursement for parade candy, helping spark a controversy over the office's spending habits.

In some ways the it resembled a larger battle between warring factions of the county's GOP.