Clark wins Harvey mayor’s race; Chirico wins second term in Naperville

After Lori Lightfoot cruised to victory early Tuesday night in the Chicago mayoral runoff, suburban voters were learning whether incumbents, newcomers or challengers would be taking the top elected jobs in their towns. A look at several races:

HARVEY

Christopher Clark was poised to become the next mayor of south suburban Harvey as the first-term alderman held a significant lead over rival Anthony McCaskill.

With 94.4 percent of precincts reporting, Clark had 61 percent of the vote to McCaskill’s 39 percent.

McCaskill, the city’s outgoing park district president, said that he would hold out hope until every vote was counted, but he acknowledged it was highly unlikely he would pull out a win.

“I think he and I both ran on transparency and fighting corruption,” McCaskill said. “We came up maybe a little bit short.

“I’m going to enjoy being 45 years old, be a husband and be a provider for my family,” McCaskill continued. “We had a great run. I’m at peace.”

McCaskill said he was willing to put the bruising campaign behind him and help Clark if the alderman did indeed win the race.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s runoff, the race was surrounded by allegations of corruption in city hall and accusations of wrongdoing by both candidates.

McCaskill was the possible beneficiary of alleged vote-buying in the first round of voting, an accusation that was being investigated by Cook County officials.

As news of that scandal broke, McCaskill renewed a weeks-old claim that Clark changed his name to hide a felony conviction in North Carolina. There was no evidence of Clark being a felon.

All that came on the heels of outgoing Mayor Eric Kellogg being implicated in a federal indictment after federal agents raided city hall and the city’s police department.

Kellogg, the longtime mayor who is wrapping up his fourth term, was not charged in the indictment, but he was prevented from running for reelection by a term-limit referendum that was first proposed by Clark and passed in 2016.

Nader Issa, Sun-Times

NAPERVILLE

Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico held off a challenge from Richard “Rocky” Caylor Tuesday to win a second term as the leader of Illinois’ fourth largest municipality.

With all precincts reporting in Will and DuPage counties, Chirico had a more than 600-vote lead over Caylor, 9,412 to 8,792, according to unofficial tallies.

After being elected successor to the late George Pradel four years ago, Chirico, a businessman with deep roots in the city, spent his first term advancing his pro-development agenda and aiming to reduce the city’s debt burden. He said he intends to carry out his goals by maintaining an active role in the office.

Caylor, a Marine veteran and president and CEO of a Joliet logistics company, said he views the mayoral duties as more of a “position of support and service.”

Lauren Rohr, Daily Herald

SCHAUMBURG

Schaumburg voters chose experience in electing longtime Village Trustee Tom Dailly the village’s first new mayor since the Reagan administration.

With 32 of 48 precincts reporting, Dailly had 71.6 percent of the vote in the unofficial returns. Nafees Rahman, a manager in the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, had 14.9 percent, while Old Schaumburg Centre Commissioner Matthew Steward had 745 votes or 13.4 percent.

Dailly is poised to succeed Village President Al Larson, who is stepping down after 32 years.

Larson endorsed Dailly. The race to succeed him proved a fractious one, with the lack of an incumbent promising a rare opportunity not only for Dailly after a combined 25 years on the village board, but also for first-time political candidates Rahman and Steward.

Eric Peterson, Daily Herald

WHEATON

In a race that pitted one experienced city councilman against another, Wheaton voters chose Phil Suess as their first new mayor in 12 years, unofficial results showed.

With all precincts reporting, Suess had 3,617 votes, while his challenger, John Prendiville, had 3,239.

Suess, 61, is a partner in an investment consulting firm and is in the middle of his fourth term as city councilman. He will succeed Mayor Michael Gresk, who did not seek re-election.

The loss boots 56-year-old Prendiville from the city council, with his third term as councilman expiring in May.

Lauren Rohr, Daily Herald

ELGIN

With three-quarters of precincts reporting in Kane and Cook Counties, incumbent Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain held a commanding lead over Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger. Kaptain was leading race with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Read more on suburban elections at dailyherald.com.