THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2008
Surprise, Surprise?
Walker Leads Prochno, Loza Leads Morask, Voters Nix Home Rule, Favor Harper Money
With approximately 75-100 people in attendance supporting 66th State House district Republican candidate Christine Prochno at the Elk Grove VFW Hall Tuesday night, the mood was upbeat, even though Prochno trailed her opponent Democrat Mark Walker by approximately a little under 1,400 votes as of 11 p.m.
As of that time, Prochno had received 15,890 votes, while Walker led with 17,267 votes.
Many friends and supporters believed Prochno was the better candidate not only for her experience, but her knowledge as well.
"I have known Christine for many years, we even are members together in the Elk Grove Lioness Club," said Barbara Flowers, an Elk Grove Village for over 40 years. "She is a very honest person and very congenial. I am sure she will win. Her honesty surpasses everything else."
Prochno herself predicted the race would come to down to the last few votes in the last precinct.
"I never expected to win, I just hope I prevail," said Prochno.
Prochno arrived at the VFW around 8:20 p.m. and was greeted by applause and cheers from friends and supporters, including Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson.
"Our goal from day one has been carry Elk Grove and hold the other communities within the district," said Johnson. "It's been a tough campaign, but I am very proud of her. We have to change Springfield and the only way is working from the bottom up and build from there."
Walker did not return numerous phone calls Tuesday night.
In the 53d State House district, incumbent Republican Sidney Mathias held an approximate 2,600 vote lead over Democrat candidate Carol Javens in Cook County with 16,457 votes by 11 p.m. In Lake County, Mathias was declared the winner receiving almost 500 votes more than Javens with 1,654 votes. Green Party candidate Rob Sherman received a total of 64 votes in Lake County and 848 votes in Cook County as of 11 p.m. Tuesday.
"I have won in one regards. I am receiving the most votes per dollars spent, which shows I am the most fiscally responsible candidate," laughed Sherman. "A lot of people who were going to vote for me voted for Sid for the purpose of stopping Carol because Carol is so dishonesty and she is so lacking in moral character."
Over in Prospect Heights, the home rule referendum was failing early. With 13 of 17 precincts counted by 11 p.m., 1,540 voters (39.83%) said "yes" to home rule while 2,326 (60.17%) voted "no". In a little bit of contradiction however, most voters did say they would approve using home rule power to transfer hotel tax revenues to fixing the roads. This question was merely advisory and the proposal could only move forward if home rule was approved.
If voters had approved home rule, Prospect Heights would have been able to fund road repairs by using hotel tax revenue. By 11 p.m., votes showed 2,175 (56.46%) saying yes while 1,677 (43.54%) said no.
In regards to Harper College's $153.6 million "no tax rate increase" bond referendum to repair older buildings and make other campus improvements over the next 10 years, as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, voters were in favor of the referendum by almost 19,000 votes (92,077 yes and 73,393 no).
Veteran State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-65th) appeared the victor Tuesday night in a bitterly fought contest against Democrat Aurora Austriaco.
With approximately 80% of the vote reporting, Mulligan of Des Plaines, had unofficially chalked-up 6,253 votes to Austriaco's 4,067. Austriaco, an attorney, lives in Park Ridge.
Twelfth subcircuit district judicial candidate Pamela Loza of Mt. Prospect was leading Laura Morask of Park Ridge, 23,783 to 20,718 with 38% of the vote reporting.
In the 57th Legislative District, Democrat Elaine Nekritz was leading Republican James Tatooles 6,074 to 3,104 with 29% of the vote reporting.
Local congressional races as of 10:15 p.m. Tuesday night saw:
* One term incumbent Peter Roskam leading Democrat challenger Jill Morgenthaler of Des Plaines 120,946 to 85,279 with roughly 75% of precincts reporting,
* Incumbent Democrat Jan Schakowsky leading Republican Michael Younan, 63,027 to 16,603 with 40% of precincts in,
* In the 10th Dist., incumbent Republican Mark Kirk was leading Democrat Dan Seals 74,785 to 63,197 with about 65% of precincts reporting.
At Roskam headquarters in Bloomingdale, a crowd of supporters gradually increased as the evening wore on. Several television sets were set up as people viewed returns and dined on sandwiches and snacks. About two miles away, Morgenthaler supporters gathered at a small restaurant to watch returns and wait for the Democratic candidate to show up.