McHenry County Blog

Two precinct vote at Crystal Lake’s Main Beach House, Algonquin 7 and Algonquin 19.

Here are the results of in-person voting, minus the one person who voted electronically.

For City Council

Algonquin 7′s election day results for Crystal Lake City Council.

It looks as if it will be a battle for third place because Ralph Dawson and Jeff Thorsen are way out in front.  Jim Tomasello is with striking distance of appointed Councilman Cameron Hubbard looking at just one precinct.

Algonquin 19 is the other precinct who votes in the Main Beach House.

Dawson and Thorsen are again way ahead with Hubbard being third, three votes ahead of Tomasello.  Charles Ebann did proportionately better in this precinct that runs from Dole to Crystal Lake Avenue and east to the Crystal Lake and the Grafton Township line on the North Shore.

Algonquin Township Precinct Map.

Algonquin Township is where I serve as the Republican Precinct Committeeman in the 7th precinct. It’s is located in the northwest corner of the township. Across my street is Grafton Township.

When the canvass of the February 26th primary were posted, I looked at turnout.

It was pathetic.

4.6% on the average.

Even considering the lists are not clean, that’s really bad.

1,443 votes.

I decided to see which precincts had more than 5% of those on the voter registration rolls go to the polls. Here are the results:

• Algonquin 18 – 8.3% (Township Trustee candidate Russ Cardelli lives in this precinct and his wife in the Precinct Committeeman.)
• Algonquin 7 – 7.8%
• Algonquin 19 – 5.4%
• Algonquin 30 – 5.1% (Township Supervisor candidate Marc Munaretto and Clerk candidate Linda Lance live in this precinct.)

It took less than 13 minutes to tally all the votes cast in Algonquin Township Precincts 7 and 19.

You can see the tally sheets below:

An additional vote was cast electronically for Marc Munaretto and Bill Bligh.

Votes cast in person in the Algonquin Township Republican primary election in Algonquin Township Precinct 19.

The Courthouse

In late morning, County Clerk’s employees were opening absentee ballots.

Employees of McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz were opening absentee ballots this morning.

Office employees were also printing more ballots for Nunda Township. Ten percent had been delivered to each precinct but Kathie Schultz said that some precincts were running short.

Algonquin Township

The judges at the Crystal Lake Park District’s Main Beach House were lonely during lunch hour.

At about 12:30, only 24 had voted in my Algonquin Township 7 precinct.  Twenty-two had voted in Algonquin 19.

Nunda Township

“My friend in Nunda 18 (Rotary Building @ Vet Acres) just texted me and told me that they ran out of ballots and it was a long wait to vote!

“I was #45 at 11:15, and there were 4 people ahead of me at the Fountains.

“At 1:15 on my way home from a meeting Nunda roads were not plowed.”

Thought some might be interested in the letter I have written to my Crystal Lake-Lakewood precinct. It is below:

Dear Algonquin Township Precinct 7 Voters:

You can cast early votes at the Crystal Lake City Hall or the Algonquin Township Hall on Rt. 14 if you wish, but, if you are a traditionalist, our polling place is still the Main Beach House.

Besides the Presidential election, which the media says is a walkaway for Pres. Obama in Illinois, there’s not a lot going on. (Not that I’m not voting for Romney or want you to skip voting.)

No other statewide races, no state legislative contests, no Democrats running for countywide office.

My friend Peter Roskam is running for Congress for the first time in our area. He is the 4th ranking Republican in Washington and well positioned to assist our area.

I believe the most important vote is on the Jack Franks-initiated County Executive Referendum.

Philosophically, I am opposed to concentration of power.

A County Executive form of government will put more power into one person’s hands than exists today.

A County Executive will be able to give out contracts of up to $25,000 without board approval, as well as hire and fire those who report to him. Neither is the case now.

Checks and balances are good. That exits now and was what the Federalist Papers were all about.

There is a contest for County Board members.

The four Republicans who survived this spring’s GOP primary are, in ballot order:

• Donna Kurtz
• Jim Heisler
• Ken Koehler
• Carolyn Schoefield

All have solid public service records. They are opposed by two Democrats.

Three judges are on the ballot seeking another 6 years on the bench. None merits a “No” vote.

The final item is the Mike Madigan-pension Constitutional Amendment. He’s the reason we have a pension problem. No one thinks the proposal to increase the majority needed to pass pension bills will do anything. As a 16-year State Rep., I can’t remember a pension bill vote that was even close.

More political info on my McHenry County Blog. Please call 459-3506 if you have questions.

Cal

I thought some might be interested in the letter than I am distributing to those who live in Algonquin Township Precinct 7. It is below:

Dear Algonquin Township Precinct 7 Voters:

From the TV ads for President, you will, of course, know an election is coming.

What you may not know is that everyone can vote in the Republican Primary election.

That’s because Illinois has an “Open Primary.” That means you can walk into the polls, ask for a Republican

Carolyn Schofield

ballot and get one whether you consider yourself a Republican, an Independent or, gasp, even a Democrat.

Since the GOP primary is where the action is, I would encourage you to weigh in with your opinion.

Besides the GOP Presidential primary, about the only thing else of interest is the McHenry County Board race.

Five people are running for four spots. So you get to decide whom to eliminate.

The ballot order of the candidates follows:

• 

  Jim Heisler

  Carolyn Schoefield

• John Heisler
• Ken Koehler
• Tom Wilbeck
• Donna Kurtz

Heisler, Koehler and Kurtz are running for re-election.

Schoefield and Wilbeck are running for the County Board for the first time.

The most interesting motivation for running is held by Wilbeck. He didn’t decide to run until his read that all District 2 incumbents voted to hike our taxes by as much as the law allowed. That day

Ken Koehler

he was out in Country Club Additions gathering the necessary signatures.

Since I am a “tax hawk,” you can bet I am going to vote for him.

Carolyn Schoefield is now a Crystal Lake City Councilwoman. She says that she would not have voted for the 1.5% county tax increase and that on the City Council, she voted to use financial reserves, rather than hike city taxes.

All the incumbents have pluses and minuses, the biggest minus, of course, I have already mentioned. They all voted to high our tax bills…even though the value of our homes have fallen.

Koehler has presided over a government with an AAA credit rating. Considering what Democrats have done to our credit rating in Springfield, that’s worth a mention.

Tom Wilbeck

Kurtz has the knack of asking questions that the Establishment does not want asked. An admirable trait, I’d say.

Heisler is like a Hush Puppy. He is readily available in his shoe store downtown and can give you a rational answer as to why he voted as he did.

There are two new names on the ballot.

Congressman Peter Roskam has been given Algonquin Township in the new reapportionment map. He lives in Wheaton and we were both elected to the Illinois House in 1992 election. As the fourth-ranking Republican in the United States Congress, we shall have a powerful advocate.

Donna Kurtz

Not only are we the most Northwest precinct in Roskam’s 6th Congressional District, but we are the Southernmost precinct in Mike Tryon’s old 64th State Rep. District. The dividing line is Country Club Road.

Mike decided to run in the district that goes way south alone Randall Road to St. Charles.

Running in our area is current McHenry County Board member Barbara Wheeler. She is the one who led the fight against video poker (can you say slot machines?) in every rural bar and restaurant. She voted against hiking the county’s tax bill next year.

There is also an electrical aggregation referendum. The short description of what it would do, if passed, is to allow Crystal Lake and Lakewood governments to negotiate for electricity on our behalf. It’s a group buying idea which will undoubtedly pass now that the General Assembly has voted and Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill to allow Com Ed to raise our rates. (It was euphemistically called the “Smart Grid” bill. Smart for Com Ed, at least.)

If you don’t want to be in the buying pool, you can opt our.

There’s a lot more information I’ve posted on McHenry County Blog. It’s increasingly become the place to go to find out what is happening politically in McHenry County.

If you have questions, please call 815-459-3506.

The polls are open at the Main Beach House from 6-7 Tuesday.

= = = = =

All the candidates brochures mentioned above can be found in this story.

The pictures are in ballot order.

All but about 40 of the homes in my precinct have received the letter and pamphlets in bags from the next Congressman, Peter Roskam.

Keith Nygren

There is no accurate way to tell how people voted on election night or even how many people voted on a precinct by precinct basis.

That’s because of the early votes and those cast by absentee are folded into totals after all the paper and election day computer cast ballots are tallied.

However, one can add up the votes cast in the precinct and get totals which might or might not mean much.

Excluding early voting and assuming that all absentee ballots were returned, Algonquin 7, the precinct where I am Republican precinct committeeman, saw 278 of 465 registered voters casting ballots. That is almost 60%.

In the precinct next door, Algonquin 19, 301 of 644 cast ballots, giving a turnout of 6.7%.

Lets look at the hot local races.

Republican incumbent Sheriff Keith Nygren carried both precincts, although Democrat Mike Mahon would have carried Algonquin 19, had Green Party candidate Gus Philpott not been on the ballot and all 21 votes he received had voted for Mahon.

The totals for Algonquin 7 were

• Nygren -135
• Mahon – 85
• Philpott – 11

In Algonquin 19, they were

• Nygren-128
• Mahon – 108
• Philpott – 21

For county board, the Republicans carried the day:

Algonquin 7

• Donna Kurtz – 167
• Ken Koehler – 104
• Mark Booras – 73

Algonquin 19

• Kurtz – 155
• Koehler – 110
• Borras – 109

Gordon Graham

For Judge, Republican Gordon Graham bested Sally Wiggins:

Algonquin 7

• Graham – 145
• Wiggins – 62

Algonquin 19

• Graham – 149
• Wiggins – 92

On statewide races, for U.S. Senate, Mark Kirk carried both precincts over Alexi Giannoulias:

Algonquin 7

Short Term U.S. Senate

• Kirk – 143
• Giannoulias – 77
• Jones – 13
• Labno – 3

Six-Year Term U.S. Senate

• Kirk – 148
• Giannoulias – 80
• Jones – 10
• Labno – 5

Mark Kirk

It is worth noting that the Democratic Party spent a whole lot of direct mail money to promote Libertarian Labno without much success.

Barack Obama carried Algonquin 7 by one vote two years ago.

Kirk got 61% of the vote this year for the short term, while Obama’s basketball buddy Giannoulias received 34% (54% to  33% for the six-year term). Third party candidates garnered the rest.

Algonquin 19

Short Term U.S. Senate

• Kirk – 156
• Giannoulias – 131
• Jones – 11
• Labno – 17

Six-Year Term U.S. Senate

• Kirk – 160
• Giannoulias – 139
• Jones – 12
• Labno – 16

Bill Brady

For Governor, Bill Brady carried both precincts.

Algonquin 7

• Bill Brady – 140
  Pat Quinn – 80
  Rich Whitney – 9
  Soctt Lee Cohen – 4
  Lex Green – 2

Algonquin 19

• Bill Brady – 129
• Pat Quinn – 107
• Scott Lee Cohen – 14
• Lex Green – 9
• Rich Whitney – 6

Brady won by 1.75 to 1 in Algonquin 7 and 1.2 to 1 in Algonquin 19.

Voters got shunted into the little room without a lake view again today.

So much for the Park District’s being able to recognize that voters might like to see what their tax dollars have bought.

One good thing was that no one was at the gate to collect the Main Beach tax.

I can’t believe the Park Board charges us to get in during the summer.  After all, this is the neighborhood park for many of us.

Not that kids in my neighborhood use the beach, but I remember when my son like to play on the swings and run around the Leathers edifice.

In the foreground you see Caleb Johansen, judge of election for the fourth time. He is doing independent study at home to prepare to earn college credits on the cheap. The other young man is MCC student Jacob Byer.

Two polling places are in the little room. Besides my Algonquin 7 precinct, Algonquin 19 votes there.

Here's the Algonquin 19 side of the backroom at the Main Beach House. The man standing up is Joe Stecker, the Republican precinct committeeman. The Democratic precinct committeeman is Lori Keller, who is the election judge closest to the camera.

At four o’clock 172 people had voted in person in Algonquin 7.

This man, voting by computer, was initiating his son into the duties of citizenship.

51 voted by computer.

There was a full house at the paper ballot voting stations.

121 voted a paper ballot that was scanned into the counting machine.

That’s a total of 172 for Algonquin.

Algonquin 19 had had 200 votes, all but one paper.

Algonquin 19 has more voters, but with early voting and unlimited absentee voting, it’s pretty difficult to figure out what percentage of the register voters have cast ballots in each election jurisdiction.

In 206, the last off-presidential year election, there was a 57.2% voter turnout.  258 of the 451 who could vote did so.

Four years ago, the turnout in Algonquin 19 was 43.1%.  273 of 633 people eligible to vote did so.

Countywide there was a 44.4% turnout. 82,725 out of 186,323 registered voters cast ballots.

On election day at the Crystal Lake Park District Main Beach House, two ballots apparently stuck together when they were handed to a voter in Algonquin Township Precinct 7.

Only one was initialed by a judge.

When the voter discovered she or he had two ballots, did he/she return the second ballot to the judges?

No.

He/she filled out both ballots and into the counting machine they went.

I wasn’t alert enough to look at the uninitialed ballot to see whether it was for the Republican or Democratic Party and see what gubernatorial candidate for whom the person has voted probably twice.

Algonquin Township Precinct 7 Judges who thwarted the sticking ballot vote fraud.

The election judges in my precinct were right on top of the problem, so my guess is that one vote will be subtracted from a whole list of candidates before or during the official canvass of votes.

It reminds me of that great line from George Washington Plunkitt of New York’s Tammany Hall

“I Seen My Opportunities and I Took ’Em.”

The title of his book?

“Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics, Delivered by Ex-Senator George Washington Plunkitt, the Tammany Philosopher, from his Rostrum—the New York County Courthouse Bootblack Stand “

Just got back from my polling place at the Main Beach House.

Any thoughts that disgusted voters would storm the ballot boxes turned out to be nonsense, at least looking only at the paper ballots. Of course, I could be pleasantly surprised when the electronic, absentee and early votes are folded in late tonight.

Only 102 people cast paper ballots in my Algonquin 7 precinct, which has over 400 registered voters. 137 cast paper ballots in Algonquin 19, a larger precinct on the north side and east of Crystal Lake.

Here are the results for McHenry County Board (two to be nominated, candidates are listed in ballot order):

Donna Kurtz

Algonquin 7

• Orphal 14
• Koehler 14
• Kurtz 57
• Mueller 18
• DePaul 24

Algonquin 19

• Orphal 12
• Koehler 36
• Kurtz 50
• Mueller 25
• DePaul 23

Donna Kurtz, who worked the precinct herself, had a weekend “I’ll protect the watershed” mailbox hanger and had my endorsement wiped out the opposition, getting 57 votes. The most any candidate got was 61 (Congressman Don Manzullo and yours truly, both running unopposed).

Despite having someone go door-to-door in Algonquin 7, McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler only got 14 votes.

The woman with nothing but a yard sign campaign—Sandra DePaul—actually came in second with 24 votes.

In Algonquin 19, the results were similar, except that Koehler did much better.

Kurtz scored 50 votes, while Koehler came in second with 36. Two candidates were 11 and 14 votes behind, Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller and Sandra DePaul.

Adding the two precincts together finds Koehler running second, but Mueller and DePaul within striking distance.

Remember, these are not the final results…just a sample of two of 35 precincts.

= = = = =

With five precinct reporting at 8:30, Koehler seems to be running a solid second.