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Archive for the ‘Turnout’

Algonquin Township Republican Party Primary Set at 4.6%

March 26, 2013 By: Cal Skinner Category: Algonquin 19, Algonquin 7, Algonquin Township, Republican Primary Election, Turnout

Algonquin Township Precinct Map.

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.)

Where Was the Most Campaigning in Grafton Township?

March 16, 2013 By: Cal Skinner Category: Grafton Township, Grafton Township Republican Central Committee, Turnout

Turnout was really terrible in most of the precincts which held Republican Party township primary elections.

Today, let’s take a look at who voted where in Grafton Township’s hot three-way Township Supervisor race and two-way Assessor and Road Commissioner contests.

Grafton Turnout 2-26-13 1-22Grafton Turnout 2-26-13 23-31

Grafton Township precinct map.

Grafton Township precinct map.

Here are the precincts ranked from highest to lowest turnout:

  • GRAFTON 15 – 25.91% Sun City, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 27 – 19.95% Sun City, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 26 – 15.75% Sun City, Linda Moore, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 2 – 10.95% – Lakewood, Mike Hansen, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 4 – 10.63% – Northwest Grafton Township, farmland, James Ketchmark, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 1 – 10.29% – Downtown Huntley, Mike Skala, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 9 – 9.31% – Area around the old high school, Eric Hartmann, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 6 – 8.76% – Lakewood’s Turnberry & unincorporated area west of Crystal Lake to Route 47, Betty Jane Miller, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 11 – 6.93% – West end of Crystal Lake, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 18 – 6.46% – Lake in the Hills, Tom Wilbeck, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 29 – 5.56% – Huntley near Village Hall, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 7 – 5.50% – Crystal Lake south of Lakewood, Fred Wickham Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 3 – 5.41% – North Shore of Crystal Lake, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 10 – 5.23% – Crystal Lake, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 22 – 4.70% -  eastern Huntley on the county line, Cheryl Meyer, appointed Precinct Committteeman
  • GRAFTON 24 – 4.25% – west of Lakewood Road, north of Miller Road, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 17 – 4.18% – Algonquin in southeast corner of township, No Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 5 – 4.06% – Crystal Lake, northwest of the lake, appointed John McGuire, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 12 – 3.80% – east if Lakewood Road, north of Miller Road in Lake in the Hills, Joseph Oskorep, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 13 – 3.53% – Lake in the Hills near township line, Gary Cooney, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 28 – 3.50% – Lake in the Hills, southeast of the intersection of Algonquin and Lakewood Roads, Tom Poznanski, Chairman of the Grafton Township Republican Central Committee
  • GRAFTON 23 – 3.49% – Lake in the Hills, southwest of the intersection of Algonquin and Lakewood Roads, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 16 – 3.34% – northeast of the intersection of Reed Road and Route 47, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 21 – 2.81% – southwestern Lakewood, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 30 – 2.77% – southwesternmost Grafton Township precinct in Lake in the Hills, Marty Waitzman, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 8 – 2.59% – southwestern Crystal Lake, Carolyn Schofield, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 31 – 2.55% – Lake in the Hills north of Algonquin Road on the Algonquin Township line, no Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 19 – 1.65% – Lake in the Hills west of Lakewood Road, Samuel Paglini, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 25 – 1.60% – south of Ackmann Road east of Haligus Road, Joe Calomino, Precinct Committeeman
  • GRAFTON 20 – 1.54% – Crystal Lake north of Dartmoor, west of Huntley Road, Michelle Nigro, appointed Precinct Committeeman
  • Grafton 14 – 1.38%  -  southwest of intersection of Algonquin and Lakewood Roads, wrapping around Grafton 28, Allan Lampert, appointed Precinct Committeeman

Obama in McHenry County – 2008 vs. 2012

November 09, 2012 By: Cal Skinner Category: Barack Obama, John McCain, McHenry County, Mitt Romney, Turnout

Romney signs on Dole Avenue.

2008 was the first year since the Republican Party was formed that a Democrat carried McHenry County.

Barack Obama got 51.8% of the ballots cast to John McCains’s 44.5%.

This year, the Republicans took McHenry County.

Mitt Romney won 53.3% of the vote, while Obama took 44.5%.

In raw numbers, 131,179 voted for either Obama or McCain in 2012.

That compares to 137,133 casting ballots for one of the two major parties in 2008.

Almost 6,000 fewer votes were cast this year than four years ago.

2012 Obama sticker.

In 2008. it was

  • Obama – 72,288
  • McCain – 64,845

In 2012, the totals were

  • Obama – 59,691
  • Romney – 71,488

Total turnout can be seen below:

  • 2008 – 140,002 or 70.22% of those registered to vote
  • 2012 – 134,323 so far or 66.1% of registered voters

Third Mary Margaret Maule Mailing Hitting Mailboxes

November 03, 2012 By: Cal Skinner Category: Differential Turnout, Mary Margaret Maule, McHenry County Board., Thomas Jefferson, Turnout

Democrat Mary Margaret figures it takes three mailings to crack through the Republican Party dominance in the McHenry-Richmond-Burton Township County Board District in which she is running.

Saturday, the third piece is scheduled to hit mailboxes in this five-way McHenry County Board race.

If any Republican mail has gone out, no one has shared it with me yet.

The back of the post card is most interesting. It points to the way elections are won–differential turnout.

If your candidate can get more votes than the opposition, your candidate wins.

Mary Margaret Maule cites a marvelous quote from Thomas Jefferson: “We, in America, do not have government by the majority, we have government by the majority who participate.”

On the address side, Maule repeats her promise not to take a pension, health care or payment for each mile drive to and from the courthouse for meetings.

Do the top left hand promises emind anyone but me of what Joe Walsh promised when he ran in 2010?

Hultgren Campaign Warns of Low Turnout

March 20, 2012 By: Cal Skinner Category: Election, Election Day, Janness Abraham, Joe Calomino, Mary Alger, Randy Hultgren, Rob Abraham, Turnout

McHenry County Board candidate Mary Alger stands outside a polling place this morning.

As the election has less than three more hours for Illinois voters to cast ballots, Congressman Randy Hultgren’s campaign manager Joe Calomino is telling supporters of the low turnout and urging them to vote:

Rob Abraham, candidate for GOP Precinct Committeeman, stands outside his Lake in the Hills polling place.

“It appears that voter turnout is well below average today. If you haven’t voted yet there’s still time.

“It is so important that we elect quality candidates to represent the GOP and our shared values leading into the 2012 General Election at every level of government from the White House to the Court House.

“The future of our communities and our nation rest in your hands…so please VOTE today and have your voices heard.

Running in one of the few contests for Republican Precinct Committeeman, Janness Abraham stands outside her Nunda Township polling place.

“Not sure where to vote?

Click here to find out.

“Thank you,

“Joe Calomino, Campaign Manager
Hultgren for Congress”

Hultgren is running unopposed.

= = = = =

If you have election day photographs, email them to McHenry County Blog.

= = = = =

Turnout at Crystal Lake’s Main Beach House polling place seemed low to me.

In my Algonquin Township Precinct 7, 77 Republicans and 4 Democrats had voted by the time I showed up about 3:45.

In the other precinct that votes there, Algonquin 19, there were 57 Republicans and 7 Democrats.

Total votes two years ago were 114 for the GOP and 30 for the Democrats in Algonquin 7, while in Algonquin 19 there were 107 Republican votes and 36 Democrats. But those figures included early voting and absentee votes, which are not included in the 3:45 vote counts seen above.

Lakewood and District 47 Only Crystal Lake-Area Election Contests

December 31, 2010 By: Cal Skinner Category: Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake City Council, Crystal Lake Grade School District, Crystal Lake Grade School District 47, Crystal Lake High School District 155, Lakewood, McHenry County College, Turnout

No contest for Crystal Lake Mayor or City Council.

No contest for Crystal Lake Park Board.

Those are usually the big vote draws on election day.

In addition, there are no contests for the Crystal Lake High School Board.

The Crystal Lake Grade School District has four people running for three spots on its board.

That is probably the most significant race from a taxpayers’ point of view because teacher contracts will be decided by those elected.

And, McHenry County College has ten candidates for three positions.

Crystal Lake candidates Bob DeWitt (an appointed board member) and Linda Liddell will little outside voter interest to drive a hometown advantage home.

There is one big local race.

It’s in Lakewood.

Only Village Trustee Julie Richardson is missing from this meeting of the Lakewood Village Board.

Not a large part of the Crystal Lake area, population-wise (3,000 out of about 55,000 in the area), but the potential for a real campaign exits with the SportsPlex financing not going through.

Lakewood citizens may think that where there’s smoke there’s fire.

Some candidates might make something of the village’s taxpayers having to continue to subsidize the Red Tail Golf Course.

Usually the village board contests consist of people putting stuff in mailboxes the Sunday before the election., but last time the woman elected Village President, Erin Smith, knocked on doors.

Odds are that apathy will rule, however, and voter turnout will be low.

The Lakewood candidates follow:

Four -Year Term

  • Carl Davis (elected incumbent)
  • Gary Sexson (challenger)
  • Ken Santowski (elected incumbent)
  • Blake Hobson (appointed incumbent)

Two-Year Term

  • Jeff Iden (challenger)
  • Julie Richardson (appointed incumbent)

Turnout Tales

November 04, 2010 By: Cal Skinner Category: Bill Brady, John O'Neill, Mark Beaubien, Mike Tryon, Turnout

The Republican Party wins 11 of 19 U.S. House Seats in Illinois, but Bill Brady is behind in the gubernatorial count.

Eleven out of 19 is a pretty darn good showing for Republicans in Illinois for U.S. House seats.

A gain of 4.

Pretty much unheard of.

However, it looks like the Republican Party can use some support in the suburbs to get State Reps elected.

Only 1 gain in the burbs at the State level.

Rumor was it that House Minority Leader Tom Cross didn’t send many resources our way, something that could have indirectly helped Bill Brady become governor.

How good was the effort to get out the Republican vote in McHenry County?

Bill Brady got 53,554 votes in McHenry County, but the total of the three Republican State Rep candidates got more.

  • District 64 - Mike Tryon 26,253
  • District 63 – John O’Neill 13,212
  • District 52 – Mark Beaubien 15,017

Total 54,472

What do you think?

All of the vote totals are from the same source, mcvote.com

Voting at Crystal Lake’s Main Beach House

November 02, 2010 By: Cal Skinner Category: Algonquin 19, Algonquin 7, Crystal Lake Park Board, Election Day, Election Judge, Joe Stecker, Lori Keller, Main Beach, Main Beach House, McHenry County, Turnout, Voting

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.

GOP Turnout in Algonquin Township

February 25, 2010 By: Cal Skinner Category: Algonquin Township, Algonquin Township Repblican Central Committee, Turnout

While the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee organization meeting was going on, I was calculating the percentages of Republican turnout in the 68 precincts.

I was stimulated to do so by the abysmally low turnout in my Algonquin Township Precinct 7. Before I was beaten by a Personal PAC candidate in 2000, the Republican turnout was above 45%, sometimes approaching 50%.

This year it was only 24.2%.

Just horrible, despite having knocked on virtually every door the weekend before the election and candidates having signs throughout the neighborhood.

Still it was the highest percentage GOP turnout in Algonquin Township.

Note that in only three precincts was the Republican turnout over 20%. Lots of room for improvement in every precinct.

Here’s what I found. If the precincts had committeemen running, I have listed their names.

If you see a precinct without a name behind it, that means no one ran for Republican precinct committeeman. People who would be willing to be a precinct committeeman who live in an empty precinct can send me an email and I’ll be happy to give you my take on what one needs to do.

Where precincts are in Algonquin Township. Click to enlarge.

If someone is already precinct committeeman, but you would like to take on a precinct, send me an email, too. People do not have to live in a precinct to be appointed its precinct committeeman.

Algonquin 1 – 10.9% (Mark Gerhardt)
Algonquin 2 – 16.0% (Ken Koehler)
Algonquin 3 – 15.1% (Mickey Barnas)
Algonquin 4 – 10.5%
Algonquin 5 – 12.3% (Chuck Lutzow)
Algonquin 6 – 13.5% (Joe Stafani)
Algonquin 7 – 24.2% (Cal Skinner)
Algonquin 8 – 12.9%
Algonquin 9 – 16.3%
Algonquin 10 – 14.1% (Aaron Shepley)
Algonquin 11 – 8.2% (Douglas Blansinski)
Algonquin 12 – 13.4% (Ray Chisholm)
Algonquin 13 – 10.3% (Rita Heuel)
Algonquin 14 – 10.6% (Andrew Kovari)
Algonquin 15 – 7.8%
Algonquin 16 – 22.2% (Lou Anne Majewski)
Algonquin 17 – 15.6% (David Miller)
Algonquin 18 – 13.7% (Jerome Majewski)
Algonquin 19 – 16.7% (Joseph Stecker)
Algonquin 20 – 10.8% (Ellen Brady Mueller)
Algonquin 21 – 9.0% (Mark Guerra)
Algonquin 22 – 11.1% (Lowell Cutsforth)
Algonquin 23 – 18.8%
Algonquin 24 – 10.5% (Donald Franz)
Algonquin 25 – 14.9% (Thomas McDermott)
Algonquin 26 – 11.7%
Algonquin 27 – 12.6% (Elaine Mulligan)
Algonquin 28 – 12.6%
Algonquin 29 – 11.2%
Algonquin 30 – 14.2% (Marc Munaretto)
Algonquin 31 – 9.1%
Algonquin 32 – 8.0%
Algonquin 33 – 13.6% (Sean Murphy)
Algonquin 34 – 9.6% (Kay Stanish beat Donald King in the only contested township primary)
Algonquin 35 – 9.2%
Algonquin 36 – 20.1% (Mike Tryon)
Algonquin 37 – 5.6% (Jacob Justin)
Algonquin 38 – 13.1%
Algonquin 39 – 5.6%
Algonquin 40 – 8.3% (Mallory Rosencrans)
Algonquin 41 – 11.7%
Algonquin 42 – 16.9%
Algonquin 43 – 9.6%
Algonquin 44 – 11.6% (Patrick Cocernian)
Algonquin 45 – 17.2% (Robert Bless)
Algonquin 46 – 14.8% (Kathy DeRaedt)
Algonquin 47 – 10.9% (Rebecca Lee)
Algonquin 48 – 13.2%
Algonquin 49 – 15.7% (Demetrios Tsilimigras)
Algonquin 50 – 17.1% (Lyn Orphal)
Algonquin 51 – 13.5% ((Eileen Marhoefer)
Algonquin 52 – 8.1% (Robert Lee)
Algonquin 53 – 5.1% (Brian Hain)
Algonquin 54 – 13.7%
Algonquin 55 – 12.3%
Algonquin 56 – 10.0% (Eugene Sittinger)
Algonquin 57 – 7.8%
Algonquin 58 – 14.8%
Algonquin 59 – 7.3%
Algonquin 60 – 12.8%
Algonquin 61 – 10.3%
Algonquin 62 – 12.3%
Algonquin 63 – 8.4%
Algonquin 64 – 13.7%
Algonquin 65 – 15.9%
Algonquin 66 – 8.3%
Algonquin 67 – 13.4%
Algonquin 68 – 10.0%

Again, if you want to learn how to have a real impact on an election, send me an email. A link is on the upper left hand side of this page.