Lopez Benitez wins seat in Hanover Park; Kunkel ousted

In a close race for the three seats on the Hanover Park village board, young public policy expert and community organizer Fanny Lopez Benitez won the third seat up for election and incumbent Jon Kunkel was defeated.

With all 26 precincts reporting, incumbents Herb Porter and James Kemper won re-election according to the unofficial returns with Lopez Benitez in third place.

Porter had 894 votes, Kemper 774 and Lopez Benitez 772.

Her fellow challenger Roberto Sepulveda, husband of Village Clerk Eira Corral Sepulveda, had 731 votes and Kunkel 689.

Lopez Benitez's victory created a rare defeat for a candidate backed by Village President Rodney Craig.

The campaign pitted Lopez Benitez and Sepulveda against three incumbents who had Craig's overt support.

In his 12 years as president, Craig said this was the first time he'd lost a trustee he supported but expressed confidence in Lopez Benitez's ability to grow into the job.

"I think it's going to be OK," Craig said. "This was a tough go-at-it."

In a community that bills itself as "America's Global Village," diversity among its elected leaders became a talking point for candidates.

Lopez Benitez and Sepulveda said the village board needs to better reflect the population it serves, noting that 40 percent of Hanover Park's residents are Latino, but none of its village trustees are. Lopez Benitez said today's officials are blind to some of the inequalities in the community, such as lack documents translated into the many languages - 64, by one count - spoken by residents.

The incumbents, however, argued that each candidates' individual experiences and abilities should decide the race, not their ethnic backgrounds. And in that regard, they said, they hold a big edge given their years of service to the community and knowledge of village operations.