Incumbents swept out of office in Winfield

The Winfield village board will have a dramatically different feel next month. Challengers Tim Allen, Tony Reyes and Jim Hughes swept incumbents Glenn VadeBonCoeur and Cliff Mortenson out of office Tuesday.

According to unofficial results and with all 12 precincts reporting, Allen was the top vote-getter with 1,157 votes. Reyes followed with 1,127, and Hughes received 917. VadeBonCoeur and Mortenson received 712 and 707 votes, respectively. The new trustees will take their seats at the village’s May 5 meeting.

Allen said the campaign was contentious, costly and time-consuming because he had to compete against Winfield United, a political party that until Tuesday had monopolized local elections. Among the charges that surfaced were allegation that village workers were instructed specifically to remove campaign signs of Allen and Reyes, charges the incumbents and administration denied.

Allen also tried previously to place a referendum on the ballot to have trustees elected by districts, He said he hopes to pursue that again as an elected official.