Garrity tops three other write-in candidates for Libertyville board

It won't be official for two weeks but whatever happens with late arriving and provisional votes, Pete Garrity will be the top vote-getter among four write-in candidates for the Libertyville village board.

And because only incumbents Donna Johnson and Scott Adams were on the ballot Tuesday for three board seats, the write-in winner will join them as village trustees.

Results posted Wednesday afternoon by Lake County Clerk Carla Wyckoff showed Garrity with a remarkable 635 write-in votes. For comparison, that was 85 more votes than received by incumbent Vernon Hills Trustee Cindy Hebda, who was the top vote-getter in an uncontested race in that community.

Garrity was followed by Bethany Williams with 302 write-in votes, Thomas Beyer with 66 and Angela Trillhaase with 57. With 97 provisional and late arriving by mail ballots outstanding, even a landslide in favor of another candidate would not be enough to catch him.

He said he was humbled by the community support and credited his wife, Pat, and the campaign team with helping to bring the win home.

"That comes to mind when you think of that many people willing to connect a face to a name and bringing it to the polling place and writing it down," he said.

Garrity, 66, is a retired executive with Snap-on Inc. and a 33-year resident who benefitted from early endorsements by current and former Libertyville mayors, as well as Adams, and alignment as a slate with the incumbents.

"We had a pretty active group of people helping us," Adams said. "I think that helped a great deal just getting his name out there but Pete did a lot of this on his own."

Garrity said he knocked on about 750 doors and talked to hundreds of residents during the campaign. He also was a fixture at village board meetings in recent months.

"I've got to learn a lot. I've tried to do that over the last three months going to the board meetings and the budget meetings, but that's just a start," Garrity said.

Williams, 36, said she wanted to increase the efficiency and transparency of local government and called for a long-term village vision. Trillhaase in a Facebook post Wednesday said the primary reason she ran was to force an election and avoid an appointment to the board.

"Mission accomplished," she wrote. "It was a very positive experience."