Unofficial winners in Glenbard Dist. 87 race

Emerging from a field of nine write-in candidates, two Lombard residents appear headed for spots on the Glenbard High School District 87 board.

Name familiarity and a well-placed endorsement seemed to help Richard Heim and Robert Friend, who collected the majority of unofficial write-in totals released Tuesday. They would join incumbent Tom Voltaggio and newcomer Yadav Nathwani, who were on the ballot

The unofficial results showed Heim with 1,242 write-in votes and Friend with 1,094.

Heim was appointed to the District 87 board in 2004 and was beaten out when he ran for the spot in 2005; Friend is currently a member of the Lombard Elementary District 44 board.

The DuPage Election Commission still has until April 28 to look at absentee and provisional ballots as well as canvass the votes.

After the results become official, the board members will be sworn in at a May 4 meeting.

The other seven candidates included: Donald Pydo with 1,041 votes; John Snyder with 633; Luke Baer with 421; Donald Birns with 394; and Thomas Stachelski with 47; Philomena Merrithey with 28, and Rose Stelter with 10 votes.

Friend said that name recognition likely was a big part of his win.

"I really didn't run much of a campaign," he said. "I passed out some biographies and other things, but I was blessed because I was a 10-year veteran of 44's board."

Both Friend and Heim also credit the teacher's union, who endorsed the two for the school board.

"That carried with it quite a bit of positiveness," Heim said. "I feel like I contributed significantly last time I participated on the board."

The District 87 race was a unique one as three incumbents - David Brown, Kathleen Schmidt and Lorraine Schuller - decided against running and only two names appeared on the ballot.

When residents saw that, many jumped at the chance to get on the board.

However, a write-in campaign means making sure voters know how to vote for their chosen candidate and can be tougher to win. That became clear with the vote totals: While Voltaggio garnered more than 10,000 votes.

"You really have to promote yourself and get people to know who you are in order to get them to write you in," Heim said.

The candidates also had to wait much longer than those on the ballot to find out who won.

"It was brutal," Heim said.

However, once the battle has been won, both candidates see themselves fitting in nicely with the rest of the District 87 board.

"The board knows me," Friend said. "I work with the school foundation. I've worked the referendums."

Friend said his experience as a school board member will come in handy now that so many incumbents have left the board.

"I'm happy to move over and be ready for some new challenges," he said.