St. Charles voters return two former aldermen in close contests
St. Charles voters returned a pair of former alderman and trio of incumbents back to the city council Tuesday in a series of mostly close races, some of them rematches of tight races from prior elections.
Election night marked the return of former Alderman Ron Silkaitis to the city council’s First Ward seat. Silkaitis’ unofficial vote total of 266 marked a reversal of fortune from 2009, when he lost to incumbent Jon Monken.
On Tuesday Monken received 231 votes with all five precincts reporting. Justin Osborne, by far the youngest candidate in all the city council contests, finished third with 193 votes.
In the Second Ward, former Alderman Art Lemke regained a seat on the council, defeating incumbent Cliff Carrignan in the closest contest of the night.
Unofficial totals with all five precincts reporting showed Lemke with 469 votes and Carrignan with 461 votes. Lemke lost to Carrignan’s ward mate Rita Payleitner in a close race two years ago.
The Third Ward contest between Alderman William Turner and newcomer Mario VanDerHeyden saw the largest margin of victory in the city’s aldermanic contests. Turner earned 384 votes with eight of eight precincts reporting. VanDerHeyden received 309 votes.
Fourth Ward Alderman Jo Krieger was the only incumbent who ran uncontested. Accordingly, she received the highest vote total in all the contests, as unofficial totals with 11 of 11 precincts reporting showed her with 700 votes.
The Fifth Ward contest was one of the most anticipated races in the city. Incumbent Maureen Lewis was up against Kim Malay, who she defeated in 2011 by only two votes.
The race was close again Tuesday, but Lewis came out on top. Unofficial totals with all five precincts reporting show she received 415 votes to Malay’s 395 votes.
Because of Alderman Ray Rogina’s victory in the mayoral contest Tuesday, the final composition of the city council is not yet decided. Rogina will vacate his role as an alderman and the remaining aldermen will name his replacement.
Rogina said there will be an open application process to fill his seat. He said he has no one in mind for the position and he will not make an endorsement.