District 101 loan request rejected by slim margin; tight races for Kane County Board decided

A final vote count on Tuesday showed Batavia Unit District 101 voters narrowly rejected a ballot question, while three Kane County Board members retained their seats in tight races.

District 101 sought permission from voters to borrow $140 million to replace two elementary schools and fix others. But 7,060 voters opposed the measure while 7,036 supported it, a difference of only 24 votes.

Meanwhile, mail-in ballots helped decide county board races that were too close to call on election night. Kane County Board members Michael Kenyon, Chris Kious and Vern Tepe won reelection while Republican incumbent Todd Wallace lost his seat to Democratic challenger Michael Linder.

On election night, Kious was in the closest race among county board members with just a 29-vote lead over Republican challenger Gregory Buck. After Tuesday's count of mail-in ballots, Kious, an Algonquin Democrat, had a total of 2,743 votes and Buck, also of Algonquin, had 2,688 votes, a difference of 55.

Kenyon, a South Elgin Republican, received 3,029 votes and his Democratic opponent, South Elgin resident Ted Penesis, had 2,969 votes, a difference of 60.

In another close race, Michael Linder, a St. Charles Democrat, won his bid to represent District 13 with 4,179 votes, unseating incumbent Wallace, a St. Charles Republican who received 4,056 votes.

Tepe, an Elgin Democrat, kept his seat in District 22 with 3,427 votes to Elgin Republican Jeffrey Meyer's 3,304 votes.

Voter turnout was 159,613, or just over 53% of the 301,004 registered voters in Kane County, according to the county clerk's website. Vote totals will be certified on Nov. 29.