Walkup holds lead in first McHenry County chairman race

Michael Walkup held a narrow lead early Wednesday morning in the first countywide election for McHenry County Board chairman, but results were too close to call.

Walkup, 66, is running against Joe Gottemoller, 58, in the Republican primary. Both are Crystal Lake residents, attorneys and District 3 board members.

According to unofficial results with 92 of 212 precincts reporting, Walkup had 14,959 votes to Gottemoller's 13,968.

In their campaigns, both candidates pledged to work to lower the taxes of county residents.

Walkup said he wanted to streamline county departments and cut costs within the budget. He hoped that would "trickle down" to other units of local government in McHenry County.

Gottemoller, however, said the county instead needs to focus on broadening its tax base with more businesses, which would lessen the tax burden on residents. He also emphasized the need to improve transportation infrastructure within the county.

The chairman's race was set up in 2014, when voters approved a referendum to make the position elected by popular vote for 4-year terms. Until now, the chairman has been a board member elected to the position by the rest of board.

Because of the county's size, the chairman is not allowed to vote on county issues, even as a tiebreaker, unless he also holds a county board seat. For that reason, Walkup is also seeking re-election for a District 3 seat. Gottemoller, whose term as a board member expires in 2018, said that if he's elected chairman he would resign from his District 3 seat because the chairman shouldn't be "tied to a single district."

Walkup also said he would retire from his attorney position to devote all his time to the chairman role. Gottemoller said he would continue to practice law.