Elgin mayoral candidate Joe Galvan stated Wednesday morning that he didn’t contact incumbent Dave Kaptain at Kaptain’s campaign rally downtown at Danny’s On Douglas Tuesday night because he did not have Kaptain’s mobile phone number.
Galvan had gathered with friends and family at his far west side home Tuesday night as the votes were counted.
“I left messages of congratulations on his house phone and with his office at the city,” Galvan wrote in a text Wednesday morning. “I also left congratulatory messages for the elected council members.”
Galvan texted that he had been pulled into client meetings in Chicago Wednesday so he would not be available to talk by phone. A first-time candidate for an Elgin office, Galvan added that he intends to stay involved with local government.
Kaptain confirmed that Galvan had left the messages for him. With both men having busy schedules Wednesday, Kaptain said he hoped to get in touch with Galvan in the next few days to talk.
Kaptain bested businessman Galvan by a margin of about 70 percent to 30 percent of all votes cast, according to unofficial returns from Kane and Cook counties.
In a field of 11 vying for four spots on the Elgin City Council, Tish Powell was the top vote-getter, followed by fellow incumbent John Steffen, then Rose Martinez, who was appointed to the council last May, then incumbent Toby Shaw.
Wednesday afternoon, Martinez said Galvan had left her a text that read, “Congratulations. Go forward with the community.”
This was the first time Martinez had run for office, too. She said she was hoping her efforts would at least get her to the fourth highest vote total and an elected spot on the council.
“I was mildly surprised I made it to third,” Martinez said. “I expected the incumbents would take the top three spots.”
Martinez attributed her success to trying hard, the network of people she knows, and getting out into the community.
Only 7,010 people cast ballots in the Elgin mayoral and council races, which is about 12.6 percent of registered voters across the city. That’s about the same turnout in the council race two years ago and the mayoral and council race four years ago.
