Boone County voters don’t mirror those in Illinois, nation

By Bob Balgemann

REPORTER

Nationally, Boone County was right in there in helping Republican Donald Trump win the popular vote while becoming the 45th president of the United States. Locally, he received 12,261 votes, or 53.46 percent of those cast, to 8,952, or 39.05 percent, for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Statewide, Boone voters, in this Republican stronghold, supported GOP incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (who lost to Tammy Duckworth) and Republican Leslie Munger for comptroller (who lost to Susana Mendoza).

Regionally, they backed a winner in incumbent Republican State Rep. Joe Sosnowski of Rockford, who had opposition in his bid for re-election from a local resident, Angelique Bodine of Poplar Grove. Sosnowski, who represents the vast majority of Boone County, received 12,473 votes, or 65.63 percent, to 6,532, or 34.37 percent, for Bodine.

For Congress, Adam Kinzinger ran unopposed and was reelected.

In referendums locals were overwhelmingly supportive of a statewide initiative aimed at reducing the influence of money on the state’s political system, 20,007 to 1,811.

Boone County also voted in favor of term limits and mandating redistricting reform, 20.259 to 1,580.

The county also voted in favor with a state constitutional amendment that keeps Illinois transportation funding from being spent for other purposes. The vote won 16,452 to 4,038.

Poplar Grove voters made it clear they want to continue electing the village clerk. A referendum asking if future clerks should be appointed rather than elected was soundly defeated, 1,458, or 74.12 percent of the ballots cast, to 509, or 25.88 percent.

A small portion of Hononegah Community High School District 207 lies in Boone County and local voters were asked if they would support issuing $44 million in bonds for various building projects. One of them was construction of a field-house to replace the existing dome at Hononegah High School.

Overall, the referendum was defeated. Locally, the vote was 2-0 against approval.

County board seats

There was competition in two of the three county board districts.

In District I, incumbent Republican Denny Ellingson (3,900 votes) was returned to a second term while former District I board member, Marshall Newhouse (3,781), won a new four-year term. Candidate William Randall III, an Independent, finished third with 2,719 votes.

In District II, Cathy Ward and Bernard O’Malley ran unopposed and were voted into the county board. Ward received 5,483 votes and O’Malley received 5,035 votes.

Democrat appointee Jessica Muellner led all vote getters in the three-person race for two District III seats on the board. She received 3,087 votes, or 36 percent of those cast, to 2,892, or 33.73 percent, for Republican Carl Larson and 2,596, or 30.27 percent, for former District III board member Marion Thornberry.

Muellner was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Democrat Craig Schultz on May 12. The other incumbent, Kenny Freeman, chose not to run again.

There were three unopposed candidates, all Republicans, for countywide offices.

Incumbent Circuit Court Clerk Linda Anderson received 18,751 votes; incumbent Coroner Rebecca Wigget, 18,641 votes; and candidate Tricia Smith, state’s attorney, 18,573. Smith defeated incumbent Michelle Courier in the March Republican Primary.