The Lake County Board seat of outgoing District 17 member Michael Danforth — a prominent Republican voice on the largely Democratic panel — has generated some election controversy, as the write-in candidate has accused her opponent of backroom deals with Danforth.
District 17 includes Barrington, Barrington Hills, Fox River Grove, Island Lake, Lakemoor, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Port Barrington, Tower Lakes, Volo, and portions of Lake Zurich and Round Lake.
Eleanor Sweet McDonnell and Joseph Salvi are facing off in the primary, with McDonnell highlighting her track record as North Barrington village president and previous work in politics, while Salvi frames himself as part of a new generation of Lake County Republicans. Despite McDonnell’s lengthier political resume, she’s running as a write-in candidate, a situation she attributed to political “shenanigans.”
Incumbent Danforth had originally filed to run for reelection on Oct. 27. Salvi filed the following week, on Nov. 3. Danforth then withdrew his candidacy on Dec. 18.
McDonnell says both Danforth and Salvi knew she wanted to run, but she believed it would be wrong to launch a primary challenge against a sitting incumbent of the same party, and so she did not file her candidacy until she learned that Danforth had withdrawn, when it was too late for her to get her name on the ballot.
She filed to run as a write-in candidate on Jan. 12.
Danforth pushed back against her accusations. He said his decision not to run came late Halloween evening after discussions with his wife. Danforth happened to be talking with Salvi on another matter that day, and was aware that the deadline for petitions was fast approaching.
“I just told him, based on stuff I’m hearing — I think it’s the time for me to back off,” Danforth said. “But it wasn’t a conspiracy; it was a last-minute decision by me.”
According to Danforth, the delay between his decision on Halloween and his withdrawal in December was to make sure a Republican would be on the ballot. Otherwise, he said he planned to remain in the race despite his desire to step away.
Although Danforth has voiced his support for Salvi’s campaign, he also praised McDonnell as a “fine candidate,” and “hard worker” who would make a “great Republican candidate.”
Salvi kept his comments about the situation limited. He said Danforth believes he is “the best person for the position,” for which he is “honored.”
“He knows what it takes, and what we need in Waukegan,” Salvi said. “I don’t have anything negative to say about Eleanor. That’s not my character.”
Eleanor Sweet McDonnell
McDonnell is the village president of North Barrington, rising to the seat after toppling the two-term incumbent in 2019. She highlighted her tenure — focused on balancing the village’s struggling budget — as key experience.
She has also worked on the North Barrington Plan Commission and Lake Zurich Rural Fire Protection District, and is an alternate member on the Lake County Stormwater Commission.
McDonnell pointed to her work with state-level officials, such as getting funding for replacing emergency sirens for Cuba Township, and alliances built on the Lake County Board itself over the years. Joining as a Republican, she says she would be “willingly going into a tough situation,” but she is “tenacious.”
She voiced her support for the Lake County Forest Preserves and small businesses, while expressing concerns about the county’s budget as stories swirl about federal cuts, saying “special projects” will need to be reexamined to avoid diminishing services while avoiding unduly raising taxes.
“You really have to roll the shirt sleeves up,” McDonnell said. “You’ve got to look for the low-hanging fruit, and you’ve got to work with people on what really makes sense here. I’m up to the task, and I’ve done it in the past.”
Meanwhile, she criticized Salvi’s lack of political experience.
“We don’t need someone in training wheels on the County Board,” McDonnell said.
Joseph Salvi
Salvi grew up in Lake County, and now lives in Barrington. He noted his work on the 2016 Peter Roskam campaign, as well as on the National Economic Council in 2017, prior to law school. Salvi also interned for the Illinois General Assembly Republican in-house counsel in 2019. He’s been a precinct committeeman in both Fremont and Cuba Townships.
Today, Salvi is a partner at his family law firm, Salvi & Maher, as well as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves.
Salvi has framed himself as part of a new generation of Republicans for the county. President of the Lake County Young Republicans, Salvi said one of his broader goals is to get young people involved in politics. In that vein, the group has done outreach work at local high schools, helping create local chapters of “Club America.”
Club America is the high school equivalent of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, the right-wing political firebrand who was shot and killed in September.
While the County Board has flipped to Democratic control over the past decade, Salvi sees that as a sign that the reverse is also possible. Stepping into the seat of a vocal Republican, Salvi said he looks forward to being a “staunch advocate for my principles.”
“I’m young,” he said. “I’m passionate about this. It’s one of my goals to make sure there is a balance of power.”
For the campaign, Salvi said his main issues are affordability, accountability and transparency, and supporting small businesses.
Young people like himself are struggling to move into Lake County, Salvi said, and he pledges to cut “waste and unnecessary red tape,” taking specific aim at the county’s bird-friendly windows ordinance. He wants to reduce regulatory burdens and keep property taxes “under control.”
He pledges to protect and enhance core services, “public, law and judiciary, police, infrastructure,” as well as be a good steward of the forest preserves and support small businesses.
“A lot of times, we forget about the small business owners,” he said. “They’re not the ones sending lobbyists.”
Another of his priorities will be clear and transparent budgeting, Salvi said. After going through the multi-hundred-page budget book, he said there needs to be a clearer and more transparent way of presenting it to residents.
Whatever the results of the March 17 primary and the Nov. 4 general election, the County Board will soon look far different than it has, with numerous board members stepping down after this election, including Danforth.
Danforth was originally appointed to the board in 2017, before winning the election in 2018. He’s been outspoken on Republican stances throughout his tenure on the board, from issues of gun control to federal immigration enforcement.
