Naperville incumbents roll to council wins
All three Naperville City Council incumbents seeking re-election rolled to victories Tuesday night, with a former Naperville Township trustee capturing the fourth available seat.
According to unofficial numbers with all precincts reporting, incumbent Paul Hinterlong led all 11 council candidates with 7,727 votes. Incumbents Judith Brodhead, with 6,973 votes, and Doug Krause, with 6,789, were second and third and newcomer Dave Wentz came in fourth with 4,386.
Doug Krause, the council’s longest-serving member at 24 years, said the incumbents earned the respect and votes of Naperville residents.
“The real winners tonight were the citizens of Naperville. They’ve got a great team representing them,” Krause said. “We may not agree on everything, but we do a good job working together to live within our means and balance our budget while lowering taxes.”
Hinterlong said voters realized the council was “doing a darn fine job.”
“Were doing a fabulous job watching the tax dollars and putting them in the right place at the right time,” Hinterlong said.
Wentz, a four-year Naperville Township trustee, said voters appreciated his “well-rounded background and wealth of experience.”
“This wasn’t an election about any single issue or to reform government or increase downtown safety,” said Wentz. “This was about my experience working with both the business community and the private sector.”
Both Hinterlong and Krause said Wentz will be a welcome addition to the council.
“He’ll find we’re a group that is willing to accept most anyone,” Krause said. “He’ll have a learning curve like the rest of us, but everyone on this council will help him in any way he needs help. That’s how we do things in Naperville.”
Hinterlong doesn’t think his learning curve will be too tough.
“Dave’s been around the block a time or two in this community and I think he’s got a grasp of what needs to be done already,” Hinterlong said. “I’m happy to be working with him.”
Also running, in the order of votes received was Kevin Coyne, Jo Malik, John Krummen, Jeff Davis, Tom Glass, Bill Habel and Wayne Floegel.