Challenger Jon Gripe leads incumbent Davoust in Kane primary race

Republican newcomer Jonathan Gripe appears to have unseated 18-year Kane County Board veteran Mark Davoust, R-St. Charles, in District 14 in the March 19 primary election.

According to unofficial results posted on the county clerk’s website, as of 2:59 p.m. March 22, with all precincts reporting, Gripe has 1,244 votes to Davoust’s 577. Turnout was 12.27%.

“We give thanks to the Lord for his blessings,” Gripe wrote in a text message. “We are very grateful to our volunteers, to the voters and all those who supported us in this campaign. I am also very thankful for Mark Davost’s many years of dedicated service to the county board and wish him all the best. We look forward to the general election and the opportunity to continue conversations with concerned voters.”

Gripe, a retired financial adviser, serves on several nonprofit boards, including Fox Valley Hands of Hope, Anderson Humane, St. Charles Kiwanis and Lazarus House.

Davoust said he would look forward to his family business, coaching at Kaneland High School [and] “grandkids to love and spoil and a loving wife.”

“Well, this is not the way I’d hoped to finish up on the county board and I’m disappointed, obviously,” Davoust said. “I enjoyed the work very much and still felt like I had a lot to contribute. I guess if this is the direction the Republican Party is going, maybe it’s a good time to be out. It doesn’t feel like the party I was a part of for many years.”