From Mike Walkup:

Tuesday is the last day for voting in this election.

It used to be called “Election Day” but now it is just the last and biggest day in a 5 week period that started at the end of September.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me in my campaign and who has commented on this blog.

Print newspapers like the Northwest Herald will someday go the way of the pay phone booth and cars that you drive yourself, and it will be blogs like this one that will be the sole source of our information on local politics and events.

This has been a very long road which started over a year ago when I announced in this Blog that I would be running for McHenry County Board Chairman, the first time ever that the voters have elected that position.

I scored an unexpected come from behind victory in the GOP primary, thanks to the work of many dedicated people and the information disseminated here, and the political groundswell that was and is still playing out at the national level.

When Jack Franks announced that he would be running for Chairman, I knew we were in for another difficult fight.

Franks has brought the very ugliest of Springfield and Chicago style politics to McHenry County and, regardless of the outcome, things here will never be the same.

There have not been many instances since Abraham Lincoln first won McHenry County in 1860 where the local GOP has had such a serious general election challenge.

The only countywide office that I believe was ever held by a Democrat here was a brief stint for the Sheriff in the 1970’s, in the wake of Watergate.

I don’t know how this is going to come out, but it does appear that the GOP numbers in early polling look favorable and most of the county is not in Franks’ legislative district and is not familiar with him.

I did not have a lot of resources to work with to get out the message and relied on GOP precinct committeemen to do legwork, ring doorbells, send letters, make phone calls, put up signs, and march in parades.

Many people have really knocked themselves out and I will remember them.

The election is not yet over, however, and it is important that as many people as possible show up to vote if they haven’t already, and that we continue to make efforts to get them to the polls all the way until 7 PM on Tuesday night.

If you want to help and have not yet volunteered, you can email me at www.mikewalkupcampaign@gmail.com.

Let’s win this one and keep Madigan and the Chicago Machine out of McHenry County!