Schmitz wards off primary challenge

State Rep. Tim Schmitz easily turned back a Republican primary challenge Tuesday.

Schmitz garnered 7,662 votes to challenger Jim Krenz's 4,676 votes, according to unofficial vote totals.

Since no Democrat filed for the seat in the general election, it all but assures that Schmitz will keep the spot.

Krenz, 54, a Carpentersville businessman, was the first Republican to challenge Schmitz, 42, a Batavia firefighter, in several elections.

Although the two agreed on many of the issues, Krenz said Schmitz was out of touch with local voters.

Schmitz, an assistant Republican leader in the House, said he had brought back state money into the district and worked to solve local problems in the legislature. Schmitz has been in the legislature for nine years.

Krenz had positioned himself as the more conservative candidate, and pulled in money from conservative groups. He had vowed to limit himself to three terms in the General Assembly.

Schmitz said a time limit was unnecessary and voters would get rid of someone who was ineffective. He said time was needed to learn the ropes in the legislature.

Schmitz campaigned on his record, saying he had passed legislation of local importance, such as a measure that would make the process for library districts annexing land more public in response to a dispute between the Batavia and Geneva libraries.

Schmitz said a priority in his new term would be bringing back state money for local schools and infrastructure.

The 49th district is within Kane County, from Geneva to Carpentersville on the west side of the Fox River.