Lake County coroner likely holds off challenge

Incumbent Richard Keller appeared to have held off a Republican push Tuesday to win a second term as Lake County coroner.

With all 481 precincts reporting, Keller, 54, was beating challenger Michael Oster, 57, an emergency room physician from Gurnee, 156,136 votes to 114,068, according to unofficial totals.

Late-arriving absentee and provisional ballots were not included in those totals.

Keller, known as the blogging coroner, weathered criticism from Oster, who spent heavily in the contest.

The challenger had questioned why Keller testified for the defense in a child molesting case, and said at times Keller did not investigate thoroughly.

Keller deflected the charges and ran a low-key campaign relying mainly on name recognition and his work to "keep folks out of my office" through education, information and intervention programs.

"I am very happy," Keller said late Tuesday. "I want to get right back to work and complete some of the programs we have started."

Oster lent himself more than $29,000 for what is normally an obscure race.

He also had the support of the Republican party and listed former longtime coroner Barbara Richardson, who did radio ads for Oster, as a mentor.

During his first term, Keller updated equipment for testing and investigations and has made staff education a priority.

He said his blog demystifies the workings of the office and cites public access to appropriate information as a priority.