Stolman voted to 5th term in Lake District 20

Four-term incumbent David Stolman will return to his Lake County Board District 20 seat after beating Democratic challenger Davita Siegel.

With ballots in all 23 precincts counted, along with all the early voting, Stolman garnered 6,494 votes while Siegel secured 5,742 votes.

Stolman, 59, a Buffalo Grove Republican and an attorney, was first elected to the Lake County Board in 1992. Siegel, 44, who manages a dental lab from her Buffalo Grove home, has no prior political experience.

The campaign's most high-profile issue was whether the county board could curb rising property taxes.

Siegel sent mailers blaming the county board for property tax assessment increases. She supports forcing the Lake County assessor to reassess property values, as well as impose a 7 percent property tax assessment cap such as the one adopted by Cook County to curb huge increases.

Stolman defended the board's decision to not impose a property tax cap because he claimed increases have been less than 7 percent on average. He argued property tax assessments are made by individual township assessors who are elected and not controlled by the county board, and the Lake County assessor, who is appointed by the county board, has no authority to reassess property values.

District 20 covers the Buffalo Grove areas in south central Lake County.