East Dundee village mayor race down to two

James Carlini, one of three candidates for East Dundee village president, announced his withdrawal from the race Friday to "pursue regional-related endeavors."

The decision means the race for East Dundee's top spot is now between incumbent Village President Dan O'Leary and former village president Jerry Bartels.

"I am formally withdrawing my candidacy from the upcoming April race for Village President of East Dundee in order to pursue other regional-related endeavors," Carlini said in a release. "At this time, I would like to thank all my supporters and believe that I can better serve the entire community by applying my expertise to these endeavors. I wish everyone in the race the best of luck with their candidacies."

When contacted by phone Friday afternoon, Carlini declined to elaborate further on the endeavors. He will serve the remainder of his term as a village trustee, which is set to expire after the April 7 election.

The announcement came as a surprise to Bartels, who served on the board with Carlini from 2005 to 2007.

"This is one of the last things I would have expected," Bartels said. "When he made his announcement, he seemed excited to run."

O'Leary, who was elected to the board in 2005 with Carlini, said the outgoing trustee would remain connected to the community.

"The village has things going on that he will be a part of in a non-elected capacity," O'Leary said, referring to communication projects the village is pursuing. "He will still be a part of that."