Voters put their faith in District 116 incumbents
Experience was the lesson voters taught Tuesday as incumbents swept the election race for the Round Lake Area Unit District 116 school board.
With all 18 precincts reporting, board members Ann Welk, Kevin Daniels and Margaret “Peg” Larson won three, 4-year seats with 739, 712 and 699 votes, according to unofficial tallies. Challengers Gema Mariscal and Kevin Devera garnered 519 and 487 votes, respectively.
Kim Kearby, the former longtime head of District 116’s teachers union local, ran unopposed for a 2-year board seat. He garnered 1,043 votes.
Daniels, who works in marketing and product management, was appointed to the board in June 2011. Larson, a school social worker in Lake Villa, was appointed in April 2012, and Welk, a production planner, has been on the board since 2001.
Mariscal and Devera did not address issues or provide information about themselves in Daily Herald candidate questionnaires.
District 116 has been in transition following a state takeover because of financial problems that started in 2002 and ended in 2010.