May 04, 2024
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McHenry County Republican primary voting open through 7 p.m. Tuesday. Here are the candidates and how to vote.

Competitive GOP races are in Algonquin, Nunda and Grafton townships

By Sam Lounsberry
Election judge Randy Geisler explains the voting procedure and machine to a member of the media Saturday morning, Feb. 20, 2021, at the McHenry County Administration Building in Woodstock, during in-person early voting for the Feb. 23 consolidated primary.

Election judge Randy Geisler explains the voting procedure and machine to a member of the media Saturday morning, Feb. 20, 2021, at the McHenry County Administration Building in Woodstock, during in-person early voting for the Feb. 23 consolidated primary. Republican primary races are being held for Algonquin Township, Grafton Township and Nunda Township offices. Only Republican ballots are available for this primary election. The winners of these races will appear on the April 6 ballot when municipal, school board and other local races are on the ballot. Early voting for the primary is available through Monday, Feb. 22, at: • McHenry County Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock; • McHenry City Hall, 333 S. Green St., McHenry; • Nunda Township Offices, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake; and • Lake in the Hills Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate, Lake in the Hills. Voting hours for these four locations will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 21; and 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 22. (Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Five competitive races across three local townships in McHenry County’s Republican primary election will conclude Tuesday, with voters set to decide which of the party’s candidates should appear on April’s general election ballots.

Primary ballots in both Algonquin and Nunda townships feature two-way races for highway commissioner. Algonquin Township will also decide a three-way contest for supervisor while Nunda Township voters will determine a seven-person race for four open trustee seats.

Algonquin Township includes parts of Algonquin, Cary, Fox River Grove, Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills. Nunda Township includes parts of Crystal Lake, Prairie Grove and Bull Valley.

In Grafton Township, which includes Huntley and Lakewood, two candidates vie to be the township’s next assessor, a role that entails valuing property for taxing purposes.

Voters can cast their ballots from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at the following four locations, with ballots for each township available at all early voting centers, according to the McHenry County Clerk’s Office:

  • McHenry County Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock
  • McHenry City Hall, 333 S. Green St., McHenry
  • Nunda Township Offices, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake
  • Lake in the Hills Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate, Lake in the Hills

On Tuesday, voters can cast their ballots from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at a longer list of locations. That list of polling sites can be found online at bit.ly/2ZBcKlR.

Voters in Illinois are not required to register with a party to participate in a party’s primary election, but they do have to publicly choose one party’s ballot to vote, according to OpenPrimaries.org. There are no Democratic primaries in McHenry County this election cycle.

Here is a brief look at each of the candidates running in the contested GOP primary races set to conclude with Tuesday’s voting, named as they will appear on ballots. Winners of these elections will appear as Republicans on April 6 general election ballots, which will determine who will hold offices for municipal governments, townships, school boards and other agencies.

Algonquin Township

Supervisor (select one)

Elaine Ramesh: An incumbent member of the Algonquin Township Board of Trustees.

Randolph “Randy” J. Funk: An insurance agent for nearly 33 years, specializing in small business insurance.

Kirk Cole: A candidate with past experience in the U.S. Army, who has worked as a federal law enforcement officer.

Highway Commissioner (select one)

Robert “Bob” Bragg: Former Cary village trustee who has worked in construction and managed several Holiday Inn hotels.

Danijela Sandberg: Currently employed as a road district administrator for Algonquin Township.

Nunda Township

Highway Commissioner (select one)

Iron Mike Lesperance: The incumbent highway commissioner for Nunda Township.

Eric Dowd: A mortgage loan officer at Home State Bank.

Trustee (select up to four)

Rob Parrish: An incumbent member of the Nunda Township Board of Trustees.

Mark Daniel: An accountant who runs his own business and former vice chairman for the McHenry County Republican Party.

Timothy J. Parrish: An incumbent member of the Nunda Township Board of Trustees.

Justin Franzke: An incumbent member of the Nunda Township Board of Trustees.

Karen Tynis: An incumbent member of the Nunda Township Board of Trustees.

Johanna Donahue: Current chair of a sponsorship team for the local nonprofit Service League of Crystal Lake.

Robert Koidahl: An independent building contractor and carpenter.

Grafton Township

Assessor (select one)

Terra de Baltz: Deputy assessor with Elgin Township since 2010.

Alan Zielinski: The incumbent Grafton Township Assessor.