Democratic hold on Lake County offices could strengthen
If the leads of Lake County Board candidates hold, the historic Democratic majority that emerged in 2018 will increase.
As of Wednesday, six of eight incumbent board members had fended off challengers. But veteran Republicans Brent Paxton of Zion and Steve Carlson of Grandwood Park trailed by slim margins.
Unofficial totals showed Gina M. Roberts leading Paxton 6,381 to 5,956 votes in District 4, and Carissa Casbon leading Carlson in District 7, with 6,670 votes to 6,626.
The Democratic grip on countywide offices also would tighten if incumbent Republican Coroner Howard Cooper loses to Democrat Jennifer Banek. Unofficial results showed Banek leading with 124,478 votes to 123,487, an edge of 0.4 percentage point.
The totals updated Wednesday by the Lake County clerk's office included some but not all vote-by-mail ballots. State election officials Wednesday said 59,125 of the 170,239 mail-in ballots requested in Lake County had not been returned.
That means races could change when totals are updated Nov. 10. Results will be considered final Nov. 17 when all mailed ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and provisional ballots are included.
For the county board, totals showed incumbent Republican Linda Pedersen of Antioch leading challenger Chase Andrew Thomas in District 1, with 9,371 votes to 4,412.
Democratic incumbent Diane Hewitt of Waukegan had 7,330 votes to challenger Paul Christensen's 3,147 votes in District 2. Republican incumbent Mike Rummel of Lake Forest led Democrat Paras Parekh in District 12, 7,502 votes to 7,263 votes.
Incumbent Democrat and county board chair Sandy Hart of Lake Bluff had 5,140 votes to Republican Lauren Fleming's 4,150 in District 13.
District 16 incumbent Democrat Terry Wilke of Round Lake Beach tallied 4,620 votes to 3,537 votes for challenger John C. Frazier, and incumbent Democrat Marah Altenberg of Buffalo Grove, appointed in March to fill a vacancy, was leading with 6,328 votes to challenger Soojae Lee's 5,148 in a race to fill an unexpired 2-year term in District 20.
If Paxton and Carlson lose, the Democratic advantage would grow to 14 to 7.
A blue wave in 2018 gave Democrats a board majority for the first time in county history. Democrats also were elected sheriff, clerk and treasurer.
For countywide office, Democratic circuit clerk Erin Cartwright Weinstein and Democratic recorder Mary Ellen Vanderventer led in their respective races. Cartwright had 132,063 votes to 116,015 for challenger Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez, and Vanderventer's 140,037 votes led Emilia Czyszczon's 106,884.
Republican incumbent State's Attorney Mike Nerheim also was ahead with 126,830 votes to 121,998 for challenger Eric Rinehart.