Newcomers win Democratic nod for DuPage County Board seats

Two-thirds of the seats on the DuPage County Board will be on the ballot in November, and some turnover is guaranteed.

Battle lines were drawn Tuesday as Democratic voters picked their nominees for six of the 12 available spots. There was just one primary on the Republican side. Here’s a look at where those races stood as of about 10 p.m. on election night:

District 1

Bloomingdale attorney Eric Poplonski secured the GOP nomination for a seat representing the northeastern corner of the county.

Unofficial tallies showed Poplonski with 6,569 votes compared to 330 votes for candidate Onkar Singh Sangha. Poplonski will challenge Democratic incumbent Michael Childress in the general election.

Democratic voters selected Melissa Villanueva as their nominee for a two-year seat.

Villanueva, a member of the Elmhurst Economic Development Commission, led with 8,246 votes, followed by Maria Sinkule with 2,645 votes, and Nicholas Panicola, Jr. with 1,949 votes.

Villanueva advances to the November election against Republican Paula Pezza, a former Elmhurst alderwoman.

District 2

Democrat Christopher Espinoza, a school board member in Downers Grove High School District 99, will represent the party in November.

Espinoza garnered 11,224 primary votes versus 7,173 for Guido Nardini, an Elmhurst alderman, according to unofficial counts. Robert “Rusty” Stevens is the Republican hopeful.

Democratic voters, meanwhile, elected Lombard attorney Mary Rada Walters as their nominee for a two-year seat.

Walters had 11,841 votes, compared to 6,899 votes for Mahnoor Ahmad. Walters will square off against Republican Theresa McClear in the general election.

The incumbents, Democrats Paula Deacon Garcia and Yeena Yoo, are seeking countywide positions.

District 4

Wheaton Democrat Paula McGowen is poised to take on incumbent Grant Eckhoff, the second-longest serving Republican on the board, this fall.

McGowen, a Milton Township trustee who also sits on the DuPage regional school board, had 9,996 votes, while her opponent, Syed Hussain, had 7,862 votes.

District 5

Naperville City Councilman Ian Holzhauer appeared to clinch the Democratic nomination, denying incumbent Sadia Covert another term.

Holzhauer secured 8,828 votes, followed by Covert, who was first elected in 2018, with 6,267 votes. A third candidate, Marylee Leu, had 2,669.

The winner will face Republican Chris Jacks in November.

District 6

West Chicago Democrat Melissa Martinez, who was appointed to the board last year, was leading her opponent in one of the tighter primary contests.

Martinez had 7,687 votes, while former county board member Lauren “Laurie” Nowak had 6,662 votes.

Kathleen Zander is the Republican candidate for the two-year seat.