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Time for party voters to choose candidates
Updated: March 29, 2012 3:50PM
As residents go to the polls Tuesday, a number of candidates, delegates and referendums are on the ballot.
The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and precinct listings are available on county websites, listed by township.
Sample ballots are also available on county websites.
Among the races Barrington and Lake Zurich area residents will be asked to vote on are Republican candidates for State Representative in the 52nd District and Democratic candidates for the 6th Congressional District.
Leslie Coolidge, of Barrington Hills, Geoffrey Petzel, of Lake Zurich, and Maureen Yates, of Barrington, are all on the Democratic ballot, vying to take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-6th, in the fall.
Coolidge retired as a partner in the accounting firm of KPMG LLP, after 28 years, where she worked as an external auditor for clients ranging from Fortune 500 multinational companies to technology startups. Coolidge said she is running because she thinks a CPA like herself, with knowledge and understanding of economics and budgets, is what Congress needs.
Petzel, the executive director of the not-for-profit Friends of the Fox River and owner of a small business that purchases run-down homes in his community to remodel or rebuild them, said he is running because residents of the district need someone who will actually represent what he says is their interests.
Yates has been retired about four years but has worked as both a paralegal and secretary and owned Yates Floral Designs in Barrington. She said she is running out of frustration at Congress’ to accomplish anything.
Meanwhile, incumbent Kent Gaffney, of Lake Barrington, Danielle Rowe, of Island Lake, and David McSweeney, of Barrington Hills, are vying to be the Republican state representative nominee in the 52nd District.
Gaffney was appointed to the seat in July 2011, following the death of then-Rep. Mark Beaubien Jr. If elected, Gaffney said he plans to take on pension and Medicaid reform, as well as help the state close its budget deficit.
McSweeney is taking another try in politics after losing to former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the Illinois 8th Congressional District race in 2006. He said his main goals are to get control of state spending by making cuts, repealing last year’s tax increases and bringing reform to Springfield.
Rowe, who has been endorsed by the Illinois Tea Party, is running on a platform she calls Rowe’s Roadmap for Economic Revitalization. It include’s repealing the tax hikes, reforming public sector pensions, changing the business climate and bringing jobs back to Illinois and reigning in state spending and borrowing.
Some Barrington area voters will also vote on the 8th Congressional District and the 22nd State Senate District, both with Democratic primaries. In the 8th, Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth is facing businessman Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination, with the winner to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-8th, in November. Democrats in some Barrington Hills precincts can either vote for two-term incumbent state Sen. Michael Noland or his opponent, Tim Elenz of Streamwood.
The Lake County Board’s 17th District will also be on some ballots, with District 220 school board member Nick Sauer, Dan Quick, who has held numerous elected offices in Wauconda, and Mary Schorr of Wauconda.
Voters of Barrington, Barrington Hills, Deer Park, Kildeer, Lake Zurich, North Barrington and South Barrington will also be asked a referendum question regarding whether to allow the municipality to arrange for supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers. Municipal leaders said they expect this will result in lower electric costs for residents and small retailers.
Kildeer voters will also be asked to authorize the municipality to raise the sales-tax rate from 7 percent to 7.5 percent to generate an additional estimated $500,000 annually for infrastructure related projects and operations, like street reconstruction and resurfacing.
