Linda Moore out as Grafton Twp. supervisor

Grafton Township will have a new supervisor in May.

One-term incumbent Linda Moore lost Tuesday's Republican primary to Pam Fender, a two-term Huntley trustee. That means Fender will represent the party in the consolidated election in the spring, instead of Moore.

Reading from a prepared statement, Moore said she was disappointed with the results but thankful to all of her volunteers and supporters.

“I'll always be grateful to the voters for entrusting me with the job of reforming the township supervisor's office four years ago,” Moore said. “I want to put rhetoric aside and move forward. I wish my successor well.”

But the news wasn't all bad in the Moore household. Moore's husband, David, won his write-in candidacy for trustee, which means he gets to represent the party with three other Republicans in the spring. He needed 14 people to write his name in and according to unofficial results; 20 people endorsed him.

Fender, meanwhile, isn't ready to celebrate just yet.

“I'm not bouncing off the walls with excitement because I still have another election,” Fender said. “There were choices, and I'm really happy people decided my way was the way to go.”

According to unofficial results and with all precincts counting, Fender had 780 votes, while Moore had 598 votes. Martin Waitzman an Algonquin attorney, who was also running in the primary, had 618 votes.

“My life isn't going to change,” Waitzman said. “The only thing that's going to happen is I'm going to be focusing on my practice and my family and I'll still be involved with going to the township meetings and wishing them well.”

Linda Moore's 4-year tenure has included lawsuits between her and the four trustees and her and the road commissioner.

Grafton trustees have said hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on legal fees and the township recently has had difficulty paying its bills.

Both Fender and Waitzman ran on a platform of ending the infighting among township officials and to stop spending money on legal fees. Fender said Moore was to blame for the township's woes and that the people are fed up.

“They've had enough of these legal bills,” Fender said. “We need to get back to doing what a township

is supposed to do — stay out of the courtroom.”

Fender will now take on James Kearns, who is running for supervisor as an independent.

In other races, Kathryn Francis, who ran unopposed as a Republican write-in candidate for clerk only got two people to write her name in, far short of the required 14 votes to move on.

For township assessor, challenger Alan Zielinski won the Republican nod over incumbent William Ottley Jr. According to unofficial results, Zielinski had 1,047 votes, while Ottley had 875 votes. Zielinski will now face Terra Jensen, the independent candidate for assessor, on April 9.

In the township road commissioner race, voters selected Tom Poznanski over Richard Dvorak

for the Republican ticket — both men are newcomers. Poznanski had 1,164 votes, while Dvorak had 674 votes, according to unofficial tallies. Tim Hoeft, an independent, will now run against Poznanski in the spring — incumbent Jack Freund is not seeking re-election.

Grafton Township includes portions of Huntley, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Crystal Lake and Lakewood.