Officials speculate on Carlson's loss in Kane County

One of the more stunning upsets in Tuesday's primary came in Kane County Board District 26, where incumbent Jan Carlson of Elburn lost to Drew Frasz of La Fox.

Carlson has served 11 years on the county board and he's head of its transportation committee. He spent 32 years as clerk of the circuit court in Kane County. Frasz has no elected political experience.

So how did Carlson lose?

"Jan got to the point where he felt as though the job was his," said Western Township Republican Central Committee Chairman T.R. Smith, whose group covers most of the district. Smith said he thinks Carlson relied on his reputation rather than putting in time with face-to-face campaigning.

"Like a lot of politicians, Jan just stayed around too long," said Richard Johansen, chairman of the Campton Township Republican Central Committee. One precinct in District 26 is in Campton.

"He lost because he was out of touch with his constituents and tried to take credit for things other people did."

Johansen cited the Grand Prairie residential development in La Fox as an example. Frasz was a leader of the group of citizens opposed to the subdivision, which then worked with a developer to come up with a less-dense plan called the Settlements of La Fox. He accused Carlson during the campaign of not fighting hard enough for what residents wanted.

"Jan Carlson was just out of touch and out of the loop," Johansen said. But, he added, when the deal was done, Carlson told the press he had been involved. "That did not fly well with the people who knew," Johansen said.

Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels believes Carlson's service on the transportation committee may have hurt him, as Carlson devoted attention to big projects to the north (the Stearns Road bridge near South Elgin, for example.)

"That pulled him out of his district," Michels said.

He also thinks that the 2000 county board redistricting, which split Sugar Grove between two districts, may have left Carlson unable to fend off opposition voters from the La Fox/Campton Township area.

"His experience is going to be missed," Michels said.

Carlson said that he had decided in 2004 to retire after this term, but board Chairman Karen McConnaughay -- whose campaign he managed -- and several board members asked him to stay.

"I made a conscious decision about three years ago that I was going to deal with several tough issues that I knew would have consequences," he said in an e-mail.

Those issues included a transportation impact fee on development, which Carlson said Sugar Grove was unhappy about; the Anderson Road bridge right-of-way that Carlson said Elburn has still not acted on; and backing of the Prairie Parkway, "to support Denny Hastert, who was getting us money for the Metra project, the Stearns Road bridge corridor and the Longmeadow bridge corridor," Carlson said.

"I make no apologies -- Mr. Frasz worked hard and won by a whisker," Carlson said. "I have to admit that it stings a little, but in the long run, it's really what I had hoped to do anyway."