Sheriff Gerry Bustos and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who are married and who won new terms in office during Tuesday's elections
Sheriff Gerry Bustos and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who are married and who won new terms in office during Tuesday's elections
In a midterm election notable for flipped seats and unseated incumbents, a large number of incumbents retained their seats in Rock Island, Mercer and McHenry counties Tuesday.
Democratic incumbents including Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney and Sheriff Gerry Bustos both soundly defeated GOP challengers.
Kinney defeated Russell G. Christ, 30,578 votes to 19,782 votes. Bustos defeated Francisco Cruz "Keko" Martinez, 31,313 votes to 19,212 votes.
Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney, who won another term during Tuesday's elections
Bustos is married to U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who also soundly defeated her Republican challenger, William W. Fawell.
In the state Senate, Republican and Quad City-area native state Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Rock Island) narrowly held onto his seat over Democrat challenger, Gregg Johnson, to win a second term in the 36th District.
Incumbent Rock Island County Treasurer Louisa Ewert was re-elected in her unopposed race in which she won 100 percent of the 35,206 votes.
Mercer County results
In Mercer County, voters returned an incumbent to that county's board. Republican Incumbent Christopher T. DeFrieze defeated challenger and Democrat James R. Campbell, 872 to 422, to retain his District 4 seat.
In other Mercer County Board races:
District 1: Bob Flowers fended off challenger and Democrat Jan Occhi, 761 to 431;
District 2: Democrat Gary Gregg was elected with 758 votes to Tomijo Hayden's 411 votes;
District 3: One Republican write-in candidate Buck Rind received 182 write-in votes;
District 5: Republican Steve Moreland (R-Aledo) took the District 5 seat in an uncontested race.
In the Mercer County Sheriff's race, Republican Dustin "Dusty" Terrill defeated incumbent Sheriff David Staley 3,801 to 3,238.
In the Mercer County Clerk's race, incumbent Democrat Sara Blaser defeated Republican Robert Jay Doherty 3,630 to 3,353.
Democrat Bev Lower won another term as Mercer County Treasurer in her unopposed race.
Henry and McHenry county results
In Henry County, nine incumbents - one Democrat and eight Republicans - won terms on the county board. The only incumbent on the Henry County Board not seeking re-election Tuesday was 16-year board veteran and Republican Rick Livesay, longtime representative in District 1.
McHenry County Board winners for District 1 were Democrat Michael Vijuk and Republican Bob Nowak; for District 2, Democrat Suzanne Ness and Republican Carolyn Schofield; for District 3, Democrat Kelli Wegener and Republicans Lori Parrish; for District 5, Republicans John Jung and Michael Rein; for District 6, Republicans Michele Aavang and Larry Smith.
McHenry County voters had referendums on their ballots. Voters approved referendums about County Board term limits, County Board Chairman Term Limits and Community District 156 high school upgrades. McHenry County voters turned down referendums to consolidate McHenry County Road District and expansion of the McHenry Recreation Center.
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