Four incumbents appear to win races in Republican primary for Kendall County Board

Four incumbents on the Kendall County Board appear to have won their races in the Republican primary in Tuesday’s general primary.

Incumbents Scott Gengler, Seth Wormley and Brian DeBolt along with newcomer Brandon Beerup were running for the three seats up for election in District 1. According to unofficial results, DeBolt was the top vote-getter with 3,161 votes, followed by Gengler with 2,836 votes, Wormley with 2,427 votes and Beerup with 1,547 votes.

Three people ran for the two seats that were up for election in District 2. According to unofficial results, incumbent Dan Koukol received 2,094 votes and Oswego Township Trustee Diane Selmer received 1,397 votes.

With 1,048 votes, Oswego Township Highway Commissioner Claude Ainsworth finished third followed by write-in candidate Terry Olson with 131 votes.

Koukol has been on the Kendall County Board since December 2020.

“One of the big things that I’ve done here at the County Board is in my time here, I’ve never voted for a tax increase,” he said. “Property taxes are getting to the point where people are moving just because of the cost of living here in our district. So I’ve always tried to keep it where people can actually retire and stay here.”

DeBolt, who also has been the board since December 2020, was reelected to the board in December 2022. Last December, the County Board elected DeBolt as the new president of the Kendall County Forest Preserve District, replacing Judy Gilmour of Yorkville, who did not run for reelection.

He sees growth as the biggest challenge facing the Kendall County Board.

“People are pouring into this county,” DeBolt said. “Plano is inundated, Yorkville is inundated, Oswego is inundated with new housing. And so now we have to deal with that housing. So that’s going to be one of the biggest challenges.”

In the Democratic primary for District 1, three candidates ran for three seats – Plano alderman Jamal Williams, Benjamin Schmidt of Yorkville and Zachary Turnbow of Yorkville.

In the Democratic primary for District 2, two candidates ran for two seats – incumbent Zach Bachman and Savena Joiner of Joliet.