Martini, Charland claim comfortable leads in Lake County District 5

A familiar name appears to be back in the running for a Lake County Board seat with a comfortable victory Tuesday for the Republican nomination.

With all 24 precincts reporting, Judy Martini, who served on the board from 1994 to 2008, led two other candidates in the race for District 5, in the western part of the county including Fox Lake, Lakemoor, Volo and parts of Round Lake, Wauconda, Antioch and Lake Villa. Early voting and vote by mail totals are not included.

And on the Democratic ticket, Ingleside resident Gloria Charland in her first run for public office easily outdistanced Roger T. Smith Sr., a District 114 school board member from Fox Lake. Charland had 2,101 votes to 682 for Smith.

Unofficial results showed Martini with 1,662 votes over Ingleside residents David Zipp, an attorney who had 1,207 votes and Denise Rotheimer, founder of Mothers on a Mission to Stop Violence, with 585 votes.

In what became a nasty campaign with Zipp on the offensive, Martini may have benefitted from high-caliber endorsements, including from Bonnie Thomson Carter, who held the seat for 20 years but is not running for re-election as well as county board chairman Aaron Lawlor.

Martini, a Fox Lake resident, said services for seniors, reducing traffic congestion and keeping waterways safe and clean were priorities. Charland, an environmental activist, said she would not accept a salary if elected.