Patlak now trails in Cook County Board of Review race

The sole Republican on the Cook County Board of Review might lose his seat.

Ten days after the final votes were cast, Democrat Tammy Wendt was leading Republican Dan Patlak by 3,695 votes - or about 0.5% - in the race for a seat on the three-member board that reviews and potentially modifies property assessments in Cook County.

Frank Calabrese, a campaign adviser for Wendt, said Friday the lawyer is "in a very good position" to win the seat.

"The results should be much clearer later today, but I expect Tammy Wendt's numbers to grow - she's been consistently winning about 60% of mail ballots in every batch" that election officials have counted, Calabrese said.

In an email Friday afternoon to the Daily Herald, Patlak wrote, "Based on the vote totals on the Clerk's web site and the Chicago Board of Elections web site, I am trailing by 3,695 votes as of this morning. Am still waiting to see if any more votes will be added to the current totals and also need to reconcile some of the numbers on the clerk's database. I expect that will be concluded by some time next week."

Patlak is a former Wheeling Township assessor who has been on the Board of Review since 2010. Wendt is a former assistant Cook County state's attorney best known for being part of the defense team that represented former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in the fatal shooing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

For the full story, visit chicago.suntimes.com.