The races that are roiling DuPage County

More than 100 races will be decided by DuPage County voters Tuesday, but some have captured the attention of the electorate more than others.

Whether it's personality conflicts between candidates, allegations of campaign finance chicanery or a good, old-fashioned power grab, some races have stood out because of the fireworks they've created during this election cycle.

Here's a look at some of those DuPage races and a brief explanation of the issues that have gotten some so fired up.

Fight for control

Race: College of DuPage

Seats: 4 (three, 6-year terms and one, 2-year term)

Candidates: 13 (10 for 6-year seats and three for 2-year seat)

The current COD board has come under attack from faculty and student groups for a series of initiatives some believe don't provide enough collaboration and cooperation between all the college's stakeholders. Allegations of sexual harassment, a failed defamation lawsuit by the board chairman against former board members, the mysterious ousting of the college's president and complaints about changing board policies to further wrest control from faculty have all made headlines for the current board. Only two incumbents - Chairman Mike McKinnon and Mark Nowak - are seeking re-election.

A faculty association political action committee heavily financed by teacher union donations is backing challengers Sandy Kim, Kim Savage, Nancy Svoboda and Tom Wendorf. Incumbents and other challengers have expressed concerns about a faculty-backed slate controlling the board. Other candidates include Ivan Fernandez, Sharon Giorno, Jeffrey Handel, Michael Ledonne, Matthew Nelson, Allison O'Donnell and Lisa Wehr.

Lightning rod

Race: Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board

Seats: 4

Candidates: 13

When the filing period started, it looked like much of the focus of this race was going to be on the sporadic intra-district squabbles over the third high school under construction. However, allegations of an assault of a middle-schooler by his classmates off campus began circulating. The father of the alleged victim questioned board members why the accused classmates were still enrolled at the same school as his son and the race had a new lightning rod. Candidates questioned the board's decisions in the matter and board member Mark Metzger became a campaign issue when he inadvertently sent a vulgar e-mail to board members and the alleged victim's father. Metzger resigned the presidency, but many candidates who all hail from Aurora or Naperville said he should resign from the board entirely.

In addition, teacher union financing became an issue when state finance reports showed a slate of four challengers - Doug DiFusco, Jerry Huang, Eric Hepburn and Donald Moscato ­- took in more than $32,000 from committees affiliated with the teacher's union. Only incumbents Christine Vickers and Cathy Piehl are seeking re-election. Challengers Mark Rising, Janey Wagner, Yuming Huang, Dawn DeSart, Michael Strick and Susan Rasmus are also running. Challenger Michael Crockett remains on the ballot, but said he is no longer interested in the seat.

Partisan showdown

Race: Addison Township

Seats: Supervisor, clerk, highway commissioner and four trustee posts

Candidates: 13 (Seven Republican incumbents and six Democrats)

Most of Tuesday's races are nonpartisan, except the townships. All of the current DuPage township posts are held by Republicans. Results from the Addison Township race could signal a change to all of that. Addison Township is in the northeast corner of county and has sometimes teetered toward Democratic candidates. Voters there elected one of three Democrats to the county board in November for the first time since the 1970s.

Addison Township Democrats originally had an entire slate to run against incumbents there, but a trustee candidate and the DuPage Democrats' lone assessor candidate were bounced for paperwork irregularities. Democrats complain that the Republicans have voted to give themselves raises while reducing the hours of operation for the township food pantry and limiting accessibility to it. Republicans complain that Democrats have never voiced any objections until the campaign season started and have no experience running township operations.

Taxing question

Question: Should West Chicago Elementary District 33 build an addition to the junior high school?

Cost: $49 million

What happens if it passes: District officials want the addition so they can move all the district's sixth-grade students to the junior high and free up classroom space at the district's elementary schools. Superintendent Ed Leman said that taxpayers won't pay any more than they already are because the district is retiring other debt.

What happens if it fails: District taxpayers will see a larger decrease in the district's tax rate, but not for a couple years, Leman said. The reduction will amount to about 25 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value, he said. That translates to about a $200 savings each year on the tax bill for the owner of a $250,000 home.

Angry readers

Race: Carol Stream library board

Seats: 4

Candidates: 8

Most of Tuesday's library races don't have enough names on the ballot to fill all the vacancies, but then there's Carol Stream. A slate of disgruntled challengers is accusing the incumbents of waste and plotting to increase taxes. In turn, the incumbents argue their rivals are ill-informed and spreading lies to voters.

Challengers David DeRango, Dominick Jeffrey, Joshua Jeffrey and Michael Wade complain that the library spends too much on staff compared to other municipalities, and incumbents want to ask voters for more money to build a new library. Incumbents Thomas Arends, Robert Douglas, Mary Hudspeath and Leslie Shambo say they are not seeking a new library and argue the library's personnel spending is on par with other DuPage library systems. Fliers are being passed out at the library that challenge some of the assertions made by the slate of challengers, but do not endorse the incumbents. The challengers have complained about the fliers, but state election officials said there is no wrongdoing.

Four's a crowd

Race: Winfield president

Seats: 1

Candidates: 4

One of the smallest villages in DuPage is big on president candidates. Three challengers are trying to unseat incumbent Rudy Czech. Personality conflicts between the candidates have overshadowed debate over economic development issues, which include downtown revitalization, road projects and rezoning residential areas to commercial districts. The drama has also included the publisher of a local weekly newspaper last week attempting to influence the outcome of the race by encouraging Czech and Trustee Angel Oakley to drop out and support Trustee Deborah Birutis' presidency bid. Current West Chicago Community High School District 94 board president Tony Reyes is the fourth candidate and has supported the idea of commercializing residential areas along Roosevelt Road if homeowners want to rezone their properties. He has come under attack from the others for violating the village's campaign sign ordinance.