Barb Wheeler

I missed a good meeting of the Nunda Township Republican Central Committee earlier this month.

Kent Gaffney

Besides the main speaker, newly-appointed State Rep. Kent Gaffney, other candidates were present to announce their candidacies.

McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler was one of them. She is running for State Representative in the district that runs from my Crystal Lake-Lakewood precinct to Antioch in northern Lake County.

There is no incumbent living in this 64th District.  Mike Tryon, who is State Representative in the current 64th District has chosen to remain in his current home, which is not within the boundaries of the new 64th District.

Nick Provenzano

Mary Donner

Mary Donner and Nick Provenzano, the two other Republican incumbent County Board members, announced their candidacies for re-election.

The other County Board member from District 3 is Democrat Kathy Bergan Schmidt.

Three people appeared seeking to join the two GOP incumbents.

Lyn Orphal

They are Lyn Orphal, who represented District 2 until she was knocked off by Donna Kurtz last year. Orphal’s precinct, just south of East Crystal Lake Avenue west of Route 31, was moved into District 3. She attended the County Board meeting when the new lines were approved.

John O'Neill

John O’Neill, now a member of both the McHenry Grade School District and the McHenry Library Board, plus being the only one brave enough to challenge Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks, announced he was going to run for County Board in 2012.

Rounding out the trio of those seeking County Board seats was Nunda Township Trustee James Schlader. Schlader ran unsuccessfully for County Board in 2008, getting a bit over half the votes received by Donner and Provenzano. Kurt Milliman, recently murdered, ran in the same primary and got about the same proportion of votes.  He was elected Nunda Township Trustee in 2009.

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The photo of Kent Gaffney is by Robin F. Pendergast, Inc.