Unofficial totals show Garcia, Tepe leading in Kane County Board Democratic races

Unofficial vote totals show Sonia Garcia leading incumbent Ron Ford in the Democratic race to be the District 6 Kane County Board candidate.

As of 2:59 p.m. March 22, with all precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals showed Garcia leading with 401 votes over Ford with 258 votes. Turnout was 6.92%.

The winner will be unopposed unless the Republican party slates a candidate in the Nov. 5 general election.

Unofficial vote totals show incumbent Vern Tepe of Elgin leading Randy Hopp in the Democratic race to be the District 22 Kane County Board candidate. The winner likely will face Republican David Teas in the fall.

As of 2:59 p.m. March 22, with all precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals showed Tepe was leading with 984 votes over Hopp with 303 votes. Turnout was 11.26%.

Tepe is vice chairman of the Kane County Board.

“I think it was a good night,” Tepe said. “I chose to run a positive race. I am pleased with the win and very happy with the people who supported me.”

Tepe said he looks forward to the challenge against Teas in November and a campaign based on the issues.

“I would hope with the kind of energy and results that I’ve gotten that I’ll continue to prevail and win the race,” Tepe said. “So I look forward to having a good, solid competitive race.”

Tepe said he expects interesting races in November with two of the Republican incumbents losing to challengers.

“I will certainly miss Mike Kenyon and Mark Davoust on the board,” Tepe said. “What I like most about the county board is that it doesn’t matter what party you’re in once you get elected. You just try to do what you think is best for Kane County. That’s the kind of thing that I think makes the county a great place to live.”

Ford was disappointed in the voter turnout, but extended congratulations to Garcia and said he wishes her the best.

“Win or lose, it’s disappointing, the turnout,” Ford said. “Six percent is awful low. I don’t know what can be done to get people more interested in local government, but local government is very important. A lot happens that affects your life, more than people think, in local government.”

Ford said despite the low voter turnout, he was proud of his campaign and hopeful for the future of the county.

“I am proud to say I ran a clean race without the negativity,” Ford said. “I think these days in our lives, for whatever reason, we’re too divided and everybody has to be put into a category and I think that’s too bad that we get divided up as people, as human beings.”

Ford said he hopes the county board will continue to work toward an economic development plan that will be put into place.

“Now is a time, all across the United States, for us to think outside the box and get creative and work harder,” Ford said. “In order for a county to grow, we need to come up with a very strong, well-executed economic plan. I really hope and wish the county gets to that level.”