Incumbents have traction in District 220 race, but Lake County College challengers appear victorious

Here’s a look at some key school board races in Tuesday’s election from the Lake County area.

District 128

With several incumbents not seeking reelection, Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 will see a changing of the guard.

Incumbent Mithilesh Kotwal and newcomers Rahul Deshmukh, Doug Fleegle, Marnie Navarro, and Wes Polen ran for four 4-year seats.

Early unofficial results in Tuesday’s election showed Polen with 4,352 votes, Fleegle with 4,038, Kotwal with 3,118 votes, Navarro with 3,1189, and Deshmukh with 3,056.

Tory Ramaker and Nina Austin both sought a 2-year unexpired term. With votes still being tallied, Austin had 2,593 and Ramaker had 2,210.

All agreed mending relationships with the community and teachers will be key in light of the disruption and dissent that led to the eventual buyout of former Superintendent Denise Herrmann.

Co-interim superintendents have been leading the district this year. Colorado educator Marc Schaffer starts July 1.

Unit District 95

In Lake Zurich Unit District 95, a challenger garnered the second-most votes, according to unofficial results.

Seven candidates sought four, 4-year seats on the school board.

Incumbents included Peter Etienne, Eileen Maloney and Lisa Warren, and newcomers Frederic Hutchinson, Sally Kutsor, Dana Lee Miroballi and Alicia Timm.

Preliminary tallies showed Etienne had 1,943 votes, Timm had 1,651 votes, Warren had 1,485, Maloney had 1,402, Miroballi had 1,368 Hutchinson had 1,342, and Kutsor had 1,341.

Etienne an attorney who has been on the board since 2020 cited financial stewardship as a focus in running for reelection. Maloney, also an attorney, has been a board member since 2013. She said she wants to continue that district's success in academics and sustainability. Warren, a volunteer who has been on the board since 2012, said she wants to continue the mission to empower every student to achieve personal excellence.

Newcomer Hutchinson of Hawthorn Woods is a professor of sociology.

Unit District 220

Early results for Tuesday’s election indicated a close race in Barrington Area Unit District 220 but incumbents appear to have prevailed, according to unofficial results.

Board members Steve Wang and Erin Chan Ding plus board secretary Katie Karam, and president Sandra Ficke-Bradford, and challengers Harathi K. Srivastava and Deanna Stern were vying for four, 4-year seats.

Tallies showed Wang with 2,809 votes, followed by Chan Ding with 2,760, Ficke-Bradford with 2,646, Karam with 2,558, Srivastava with 2,552 and Stern with 2,437

Elementary District 70

All Libertyville Elementary District 70 incumbents were reelected in a crowded field of seven candidates vying for four 4-year seats, according to preliminary totals.

Board members were Brian Lawton, Travis McGhee and Jennifer Kahn and challengers were Kacie J. Feeney, Katherine Grove, Brian Pleviak and David Carani.

Unofficial results showed McGhee with 2,393 votes, Khan with 2,110, Lawton with 2,042, Grove with 1,746, Carani with 1,412, Pleviak with 1,326 and Feeney with 1,160.

Unit District 116

Three incumbents are going back to the Round Lake Unit District 116 school board, according to unofficial results.

Board members Julie Lee and Margaret (Peg) Larson, and Michael Sean Francisco, the current board president, along with newcomer Gema M. Mariscal were running for three 4-year seats.

Early unofficial tallies showed Lee had 884 votes, Larson with 842, Franciso with 786 and Mariscal with 596.

Board President Francisco, cited recent accomplishments such as Beach Elementary classroom enhancements and parking lot surface and flow enhancements in 2023, and Early Education Center expansion in 2024 with no public request for referendum.

College of Lake County District 532

Two challengers have won seats on the College of Lake County District 532’s board, according to unofficial counts.

The crowded race had seven candidates running for two 6-year terms. Newcomers Dawn Abernathy received 21,709 votes and Janet M. Gibson had 18,918, the highest totals.

The incumbents included Torrie Mark Newsome, the current board president, and Jesus Gerena, senior pastor at Christian Fellowship of Lake County.

Also running were Riaz Yusuff, Francine Zodda, and Vaseem Iftekhar.

Newsome had 14,012 votes, Gerena had 12,201, Ifekhar had 7,855, Zodda had 5,927 and Yusuff had 5,927.

Celeste Flores ran unopposed for a 2-year unexpired term.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.