Endorsement: Holly Kim for another term as Lake County treasurer.

This endorsement is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

The race for Lake County treasurer pits Democratic incumbent Holly Kim against Republican challenger Paula McGuire.

Kim, a Mundelein resident seeking a second term, has touted how she increased investment income for the county from $2 million a year to $10 million a year just a few years into her term.

McGuire, an accountant from Grayslake, suggested in a joint interview with us that such an increase wasn't possible and something nefarious must be going on.

Kim began explaining more than a year ago that she was able to improve the return by moving investments from bank CDs into higher-yield corporate bonds. With CD rates as low as they were a few years ago, it would in fact be easy to triple or quadruple returns.

McGuire also asserted that such a change wasn't permissible under state law. In fact, a 2018 amendment to the Public Funds Investment Act allowed that very change.

We did catch Kim in one mistake where she didn't make a true apples-to-apples comparison; county financial records show that she really improved investment income only to about $6 million in a year. When confronted, Kim confirmed our findings and admitted the error.

Meanwhile, the county has top credit ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's and has received certificates of excellence for financial reporting. We give Kim the benefit of any doubts we may have much more than we do McGuire. Kim is endorsed.