April 25, 2025
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Burns has close lead in Geneva mayor race, council races still undecided

751 outstanding mail-in ballots could affect vote totals over next couple of weeks

By Brenda Schory and Kevin Solari
Geneva mayoral candidates Kevin Burns, incumbent, and Karsten Pawlik get ready to speak at the candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County was held on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025 at the Geneva Public Library.

Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns (left) maintains a tight lead over his opponent Karsten Pawlik, according to unofficial vote totals. (Julie Walker for Shaw Local News Network)

It’s a close race for Geneva mayor, with incumbent Kevin Burns leading his opponent Karsten Pawlik by just 118 votes, according to unofficial results.

As of Monday, Burns had 3,091 votes to Pawlik’s 2,918, according to the Kane County Clerk’s Office’s unofficial numbers.

It’s not the first close race Burns has run. In 2021, he won by less than 300 votes.

City council races are also up in the air.

In Geneva’s contested 3rd Ward, Larry Furnish has a clear lead with 496 votes, unofficial results show.

Lee Eysterlid had 274 and Kvein Ziegler had 108, according to unofficial results.

In the 4th Ward race, incumbent Alderperson Amy Mayer held a large lead over challenger Erin Di Silvestro, with 777 votes to Di Silvestro’s 288, unofficial results show.

In the contested 5th Ward, Jeff Palmquist was 26 votes ahead of Patrice Bertheau – 618 to her 592 – and Kim Edwards logged 156 votes, results show.

Clerk Jack Cunningham said as of Monday, April 7, there are still 751 mail-in ballots for Geneva that could be counted until April 15. Mail-in ballots have to be postmarked by election day, April 1, in order to be counted.

GenevaKane CountyLocal News2025 Election