Antioch, Mundelein have four-way mayoral races; Gurnee and Lake Zurich also contested

Editor's note: Dawn Abernathy is running with a full slate composed of trustee candidates Willie Davismckennie, Ray Mullen and Angela Trillhaase, and clerk hopeful Heather Mullen-Gaschler. Mayoral candidates Robin Meier and Steve Lentz each are running solo. Also running independently are trustee candidates Sol Cabachuela, Edith Reese, Tim Wilson and Jenny Ross, as are clerk hopefuls Karen Walsh and Lisa Willems.

Four-way mayoral races have materialized up in both Mundelein and Antioch for the April 6, 2021, election.

Other contested mayoral races are in Gurnee and Lake Zurich.

The filing deadline for Lake County residents hoping to gain or retain elected municipal, school, park, library, township and fire district office passed at 5 p.m. Monday.

In Mundelein, incumbent Mayor Steve Lentz is seeking a third term. He'll be challenged by two veteran trustees, Dawn Abernathy and Robin Meier, as well as Thomas Ouimet, who now is vice president of the Mundelein High School District 120 board.

Four years ago, Lentz defeated challenger Holly Kim by a mere five votes.

Meier unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2013.

Abernathy is running with a full slate composed of trustee candidates Willie Davismckennie, Ray Mullen and Angela Trillhaase, and clerk hopeful Heather Mullen-Gaschler.

Meier and Lentz each are running solo.

Also running independently are trustee candidates Sol Cabachuela, Edith Reese, Tim Wilson and Jenny Ross, as are clerk hopefuls Karen Walsh and Lisa Willems.

Cabachuela is the current clerk.

In Antioch, incumbent Mayor Larry Hanson, who is seeking a fourth term, is being challenged by village Trustee Mary Dominiak, attorney Scott Gartner and resident Stacy Ellis.

"I've been challenged about every time I've ever run," said Hanson, a lifelong resident who served 14 years on the board before being elected mayor in 2009.

Dominiak was elected in 2011 and is in the midst of her third term. The two remaining years of her term would be open if she wins but if not, she would retain the seat.

There are five residents vying for three seats on the Antioch village board. Incumbents Johnson and Pierce are seeking reelection. They're joined by Mary Priller, Brent Bluthardt and Petrina Burman.

In Gurnee, the competition to replace longtime Mayor Kristina Kovarik as top elected official is between incumbent village Trustee Tom Hood, whom Kovarik has endorsed, and David Weinstein, a lawyer who has served most recently on the Woodland School District 50 school board. Weinstein said Monday he is not planning to run for reelection on the Woodland 50 board.

Barring a write-in candidate, there won't be competition for the three upcoming vacancies on the board. Incumbent Gurnee trustees Jeanne Balmes and Karen Thorstenson filed for reelection, and former police Chief Kevin Woodside, who retired as Gurnee's top cop in 2018 after 30 years on the force, will fill the seat left by Hood.

In Lake Zurich, incumbent Tom Poynton is seeking a third term as the village's top elected leader and is being challenged by Jeff Halen, who served two terms as a trustee before two unsuccessful village board bids in 2017 and 2019. Village Trustee Janice Gannon, who ran on a slate with Halen in 2019, said Monday she will support him.

Poynton filed to run as part of a five-member slate called "Lake Zurich Forward Slate." The group includes incumbent trustees Mary Beth Euker and Greg Weider, incumbent Village Clerk Kathleen Johnson and newcomer Daniel Bobrowski.

The Lake County school district with the most board candidates is Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128, where 11 residents have filed paperwork.

The candidate pool includes nine challengers and two incumbents vying for four seats. Incumbents Don Carmichael and Kevin Huber have filed along with challengers Sean Gay, Kathryn "Katy" Talerico, Chris Coughlin, Cara Benjamin, Sonal Kulkarni, Kara Drumke, Jim Connell, Dale J. Sherman and Julie A. Brua.

Despite the large candidate count in District 128 and some others districts, the overall number of school board candidates stayed relatively flat compared to the last local election. Among the 50 school districts, 217 candidates filed paperwork by the deadline, according to county documents. Lake County Clerk Robin O'Connor said last week that 218 school board candidates filed to run in the 2019 consolidated election.

• Daily Herald senior writer Russell Lissau and staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this story.