The unofficial results of Lake County’s primaries are in, setting the stage for the November midterms and the County Board that will eventually look quite different.
Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said they will have about two weeks to count provisional ballots and late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots. Results will be updated Friday to include any ballots received this week, he said.
With their current terms coming to a close, at least five County Board members are stepping down: Linda Pedersen, Ann Maine, Jessica Vealitzek, Angelo Kyle and Michael Danforth. And, if Board Chair Sandy Hart wins her race for county treasurer in November, her seat will be filled by an appointee, bringing the potential for new members to as many as six.
The board’s Democrat majority, currently 14 Democrats to five Republicans, could become even more pronounced come November. The outgoing Pedersen, Maine and Danforth are all Republicans, and every seat up for election has a Democratic candidate.
Meanwhile, the only new Republican candidates currently named for County Board positions are John Muellner, for Pedersen’s seat, and Joe Salvi for Danforth’s. That leaves 10 seats up for election with no Republican candidate yet named.
Unofficial election numbers show a nearly 18% turnout in the county, several points higher than the last Lake County general primary in 2024, which had a just over 12% turnout, but slightly below turnout for the 2022 general primary.
Vega said he was impressed, especially by Election Day voting, which was about 51% of overall turnout, higher than the last few elections.
“I think the weather helped,” he said. “The clouds clearing, the sun coming out, it may have helped with turnout. And credit to the candidates for also having the mechanism to turn out voters.”
There were some questions about why results were slow to come in on Tuesday evening, which Vega explained was a result of the county’s new voting model that allows residents to vote from any location.
Results are no longer transmitted from polling locations to the central counting facility and then uploaded to the dashboard, he said. Instead, memory sticks have to be physically taken to the central location, meaning the results don’t appear online until after polls have all closed and a worker has driven the results to Waukegan.
This is the second time the county has run an election under the model, Vega said, and he anticipates improvements as they work out inefficiencies.
“I think it’s important that people understand that we have to count the votes accurately, and sometimes speed is not a friend to that accuracy,” Vega said.
District 3
On Wednesday morning, Wendy Meister said she was remaining on the cautious side until all ballots are in, but she feels “confident” about the results. The numbers were close, with Meister only a few hundred votes ahead of Jaclyn Rodriguez, with 2,178 votes to Rodriguez’s 1,957, a roughly 52% to 47% split.
Who the ultimate Democratic winner will face in November is uncertain, with no Republican currently on the ballot. The District 3 seat, currently held by Ann Maine, includes Green Oaks, Lincolnshire, Mettawa, Riverwoods, and portions of Buffalo Grove, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Waukegan.
Looking ahead, Meister said she plans to join recent efforts on the board to evaluate federal cuts to Lake County’s safety net programs.
“I’d really like to pursue identifying what we think to be the most important needs of the residents due to the budget cuts, and start prioritizing how we’re going to deal with that,” she said.
During the campaign, Meister warned of a potential financing cliff that the board needs to prepare for if federal funds are lost, and criticized Rodriguez for focusing on affordable housing and bike paths, issues Meister said she wasn’t hearing from residents.
Rodriguez, in comparison, spoke positively about the board’s work. With a background in healthcare, she emphasized a focus on creating healthy communities through safe roads and access to equitable and quality health care and mental health services.
District 14
Vance Wyatt, with unofficial results Wednesday morning showing him with 982 votes — roughly 60% — declared victory in District 14 against his opponent, Carmecia Hawthorn.
Although Wyatt may face a Republican challenger in November, no candidate is currently running and will have to be appointed by the Lake County Republican Party.
“My plans are to meet with some of the board members, especially some of the new board members,” Wyatt said. “I plan on trying to work with some of my fellow board members and try to get the initiatives that I ran on approved on the county level.”
The two peers on the Foss Park District Board had been vying for the seat, currently held by outgoing board member Angelo Kyle. The district includes Park City, and portions of North Chicago and Waukegan.
Wyatt is currently the treasurer of the city of North Chicago, and had previously served as an appointee on the County Board in 2017 after the death of member Audrey Nixon. He emphasized the cost of living, supporting local businesses, infrastructure work, recidivism and finding ways to benefit from the AI boom.
Online, Hawthorn emphasized infrastructure improvements, promoting and expanding access to community gathering spaces, equity among the Forest Preserves and supporting due process in the judicial system.
District 16
Because his opponent has been struck from the ballot, incumbent Esiah Campos is the only candidate for the District 16 Democratic primary, and received about 1,250 votes as of Wednesday morning, according to unofficial results. Although he may face a Republican challenger in November, no candidate is currently on the ballot.
According to Vega, the unofficial results webpage is for certified candidates only, meaning it excludes Ruiz. Whether the raw data on how many votes were cast for Ruiz can be released will require a conversation with the state’s attorney, Vega said.
“We’re trying to comply with the court order, which is ‘don’t count those results,’” he said.
The campaign between challenger Juan Beto Ruiz and incumbent Campos was one of the more unusual of the primaries in Lake County, with Ruiz ultimately removed from the ballot less than a day before the election over his missing maternal surname on nomination papers.
District 16 includes Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, and portions of Round Lake and Round Lake Park. Campos first joined the board in 2022.
According to Illinois Appellate Court Second District documents shared by Vega, the court ruled Monday that the objection to Ruiz’s campaign had been sustained, and the judgment by the Lake County Electoral Board to allow Ruiz to remain on the ballot has been reversed.
The decision was far too late to physically remove Ruiz from the ballot, with thousands of mail-in ballots already sent out and returned, and early voting well underway. What it means, however, is that any votes cast for Ruiz will not be certified by Vega in April, and Campos will take the Democratic primary.
In a statement, Ruiz said that while he “strongly” disagreed with the Appellate Court’s decision, he will “respect the rule of law.”
Whether there will be further twists in the courts remains to be seen, with Ruiz saying “this is not the end” and that he is “exploring what other options or next steps may be available.”
There was a bigger question at play, Ruiz said, around the law when it comes to names, especially for people like him with multiple surnames. He noted prominent cases of politicians running using nicknames, such as Governor JB Pritzker.
“This situation highlights a critical need, especially within our Latino community, to clarify the law and expectations for residents with two last names when using them in official matters, including running for office,” Ruiz said.
Campos pushed back against what he called a “false narrative” from Ruiz that he was being disenfranchised from running.
“The responsibility for this outcome exclusively lies with my opponent, as he was solely responsible for correctly completing and submitting the required paperwork. The courts have affirmed that he should never have appeared on the ballot,” Campos said in a statement.
Campos also acknowledged “division and friction” generated from the primary, pledging to work to gain trust and continue “to improve as a candidate and representative.” He urged unity over division from “political ambition.”
“I sincerely hope to earn my opponent’s support in the future, just as I hope to earn the support of all residents he aimed to represent,” Campos said. “At the end of the day, we are part of the same community, and there are much larger challenges beyond our district that demand our attention.”
District 17
Joe Salvi’s only challenger for the Republican primary was write-in candidate Eleanor Sweet McDonnell, who highlighted her track record as president of North Barrington and previous work in politics, while Salvi framed himself as part of a new generation of Lake County Republicans.
Write-in results won’t be known for a few weeks, the county clerk said, meaning Tuesday night’s results will only give a peek into who will be facing Mary Mesa, the Democratic challenger, in November.
District 17, currently held by Danforth, 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.
McDonnell said she had to run as a write-in because of political “shenanigans” between her opponent Salvi and the outgoing Danforth, a framing that Danforth has pushed back against.
