Two Grayslake trustees still await final vote totals to see who will fill third seat

Two incumbents vying for the third of three available seats on the Grayslake village board are anxiously awaiting for late-arriving mail-in ballots to be counted as the race remained too close to call on Friday.

Currently, the longest-tenured village board member Shawn Vogel is in fourth place with 1,166 votes, trailing fellow incumbent Lalena Zoe Magnetta by just eight votes, according to the unofficial tally.

Incumbent Adam Shores and challenger Laura Dias are tied for the most votes with 1,296 each.

Vogel said he spoke to a representative in the Lake County clerk's office who told him there are still about 200 vote-by-mail ballots that were requested by Grayslake voters that have yet to be returned. As long as a ballot is postmarked by Election Day and arrives by April 20, it will be counted.

"I've still got a lot of hope," Vogel said. "It's really hard to say anything because you just don't know."

Vogel, who was first elected in 2005, said if he were to prevail he'd be sorry to see it come at the expense of Magnetta.

Magnetta similarly had nice things to say about Vogel.

"I look up to him. He is the most senior trustee, and if he overcomes my lead that's OK," Magnetta said. "He and I were on the same track of envisioning what Grayslake looks like."

Magnetta also said she would be disappointed if she lost because in the eight months since she was appointed to the board she has grown to love the role.

"It has been wonderful to be able to engage with other residents," Magnetta said. "I've learned a lot about what citizens are concerned with and I only want to help."

Dias, who like Magnetta was running in her first election, said she is confident her lead will hold and is grateful to the voters.

"I'm really excited that the community is ready for a new voice," Dias said. "I think the bigger win is that we had the highest turnout for the trustee election in a decade."

The election results will be made official on April 22.

Vogel said he has experience waiting until certification; the first time he ran for the board, in 2003, he lost by four votes.