Elections

Your Vote: A Guide to the Nov. 6 Election

All you need to know about the Nov. 6 election in Kendall County.

By Steven Jack
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November 5, 2012

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Voters at Precinct 26 and 35 at Prairie Point Elementary

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All you need to know on election day in Kendall County.

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Voters at Precinct 26 and 35 at Prairie Point Elementary

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Election Day. It's finally here. After months of hard campaigning across the county, Kendall County voters are ready to make cast ballots that could change the face of county government.

The County Board is certain to see some new faces and voters will have a chance to have their say on a non-binding referendum asking all local taxing bodies to undertake a 20 percent budget cut.

Want to talk on election day? Join our live blog Tuesday.
Wondering where to vote Tuesday? Try this handy Google wizard.

LOCAL RACES

Perhaps the hardest fought race has been that for County Coroner. Longtime incumbent Ken Toftoy has been fighting off challenger Mike Dabney ever since Dabney collected enough signatures this summer to make it on the ballot.

The Kendall County board is guaranteed to see some new faces. In District 1, five Republicans and one Democrat, Amy Cesich, are running for five seats. Of the five Republicans, only Judy Gilmour is a non-incumbent.

The District 2 race is more open with only three of the eight contenders (five Republicans and three Democrats) going into Tuesday as incumbents.

Click here for profiles on all Kendall County candidates and more election related content.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Republicans are pushing hard to make House Speaker Mike Madigan and the Democratic majorities in the General Assembly an issue. Out in the far western suburbs, Republicans Kay Hatcher, Garrett Peck and Jim Oberweis look to make a strong showing in this traditionally conservative area. They'll take on Democrats Andrew Bernard, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant and Corrine Pierog, respectively

25th Senate: Jim Oberweis (R) vs. Corrine Pierog (D)

Perennial candidate Jim Oberweis takes on newcomer Corrine Pierog. Oberweis has won the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald and Kane County Chronicle in this race. While Pierog touts the endorsement of countless local unions and Montgomery Mayor Marilyn Michelini.

49th Senate: Garrett Peck (R) vs. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D)

Plainfield Republican Garrett Peck, a village trustee, was among the candidates who received endorsements from the Chicago Tribune. Peck is going up against Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

In endorsing Peck, the Trib wrote that Bertino-Tarrant “is woefully short on specifics about how to address the state's most vexing problems,” while saying Peck “speaks with confidence about how he'd fix the state's pension and workers' compensation systems, about the limitations of the new campaign finance laws, about the Catch-22 of handing out tax breaks to prevent businesses from fleeing the state. He would like to abolish the do-nothing Health Facilities Planning Board. He would bring a common-sense business perspective to state government."

50th State House: Kay Hatcher (R) vs. Andrew Bernard (D)

Incumbent Kay Hatcher has been representing the 50th District since 2009. Challenger Andrew Bernard is a political newcomer Democratic Chairman of the Geneva Township.

75th State House: Pam Roth (R) vs. Jeremy Ly (D)

Republican Pam Roth is the incumbent State Representative from the 75th District. Her opponent Jeremy Ly, a member of the Grundy County board. He did not respond to requests for information from Patch.

84th State House: Pat Fee (R) vs. Stephanie Kifowit

This race has seen its share of politicking on both sides. Kifowit, who is a city of Aurora alderman and Marine Corps veteran, has accussed Fee's campaign of playing dirty while Fee has said she found her opponent's accusations insulting. Fee has picked up the endorsements of the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald.

REFERENDA

Nonbinding Levy reduction: Shall every levy of every governing body within the County of Kendall, Illinois be reduced 20% over the previous year's levy?

City of Yorkville: Should the United City of Yorkville purchase the Rec Center to operate as a public recreation facility through a 20-year installment purchase contract at a purchase price not to exceed $2.5 million with interest at a rate not to exceed 6% per year?"

Kendall County: Shall the County of Kendall have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such program?

Kendall County: Shall the County of Kendall impose an additional surcharge of up to $0.75 per month per network connection to the existing $0.75 surcharge (total not to exceed $1.50 per month) which surcharge will be added to the monthly bill you receive for telephone or telecommunications charges, for the purpose of improving a 9-1-1 Emergency Telephone System?

State Constitutional Amendment: Also on the ballot is an amendment to the state constitution that would require a three-fifths majority for any government body to change its pension system. Both conservative and liberal lobbying groups have lined up against this amendment, saying it's bad policy and doesn't address the problems with the state's pension burdens.

CONGRESS

Two congressional races in northern Illinois are must-watch contests. Democrat Tammy Duckworth's bid to unseat Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party favorite, in the north suburbs has drawn a lot national attention and out-of-district financial support. And in the west suburbs, Rep. Judy Biggert is trying to stay in the House and fend off Bill Foster, a former one-term congressman trying to return to Congress, but the latest polling shows them in a dead heat.

11th District: Judy Biggert (R) vs. Bill Foster (D)

Republican Judy Biggert is running neck and neck against Bill Foster in the newly drawn 11th District. Biggert, who currently represents the 3^rd Congressional District, is seeking an eighth term. Former Congressman Foster represented the 14^th District from 2008 to 2010. A recent poll showed Foster with a slight edge heading into election day.

14th District: Randy Hultgren (R) vs. Dennis Anderson (D)

Hultgren currently represents the 14th District in Congress and seeking his second term in office. He has the endorsements of the Daily Herald, the Northwest Herald and the Chicago Tribune. This is Anderson's first time running for elected office. He is a retired assistant director at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at the University of Loyola in Chicago.

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Related Topics: Election, Kendall County election, Nov. 6 election, Oswego election, and elections 2012

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Lisa M.

11:31 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I tried doing all my research from here - and then got to the poll and district 38 (I'm in Oswego) - Benson vs. Rezin was not covered on here at all. That's pretty frustrating. I wish there was a way, too - to help us identify which districts we are in, across the board. I never know which races to research and which not to - so I do them all, but I don't vote on half the stuff here.

local voter

12:35 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

If you go to the Chicago Tribune's Website, they have a ballot builder tool that will show you the ballot you should expect to see, with links to candidate information. It's a very nice research tool, especially for the downballot races that are so important on a local level. The link is http://elections.chicagotribune.com/ballot/ . Thanks for voting!

Robert Green

1:12 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The best thing to do is only vote for the Elephants!!!

Logansdad

1:30 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Confucius says: When you vote for elephants, you get a lot of dung.

Kelly

1:11 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

There is a way. The Kendall County Clerk's Web site not only gives you a compiled ballot to look over, but also has links for district maps, candidate lists, polling locations, etc. I realize this doesn't help right now, but maybe next time ... http://www.co.kendall.il.us/county_clerk/election.htm

Lisa M.

2:24 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Thanks. All that is super helpful. And, I'm going to bookmark those sites in seconds. The subtitle "All you need to know about the Nov. 6 election in Kendall County" might be a tiny bit misleading, though.