Primary sees turf facility turned down

HUNTLEY – Perhaps the item on the 2014 primary ballot with the biggest local impact for Sun Citians and Huntley residents at large was a referendum posed by the Huntley Park Dis­trict.

The referendum, which asked residents if they approved of new bonds totaling $18.75 million for the construction of a new indoor turf facility, was struck down by voters, 70 percent of whom voted “no.”

“We were prepared for whatever the answer was to the question that was posed,” Huntley Park District Executive Director Thom Palmer said, adding that the Park District’s only goal was to learn if residents desired such a facility.

Though the facility’s construction would not have raised the Park District’s bond and inter­est portion of property taxes, the decision not to issue new bonds will cause that portion to drop dramatically for homeowners. More informa­tion on impact to property taxes can be found at: huntleyparks.org/referendum-information/.

Congressional, gubernatorial races set

The 2014 primary saw many anticipated re­sults in political races, as well as some surprises. In a fairly close race, Bruce Rauner earned the Republican spot in the race for governor with 40 percent of votes. State Senator Kirk Dillard came in second with 37 percent of votes.

Jim Nelson, Sun City resident and Huntley Area Tea Party board member, said among four Republican gubernatorial candidates, Rauner best represented the Tea Party’s policies of limited government and fiscal responsibility.

“The position there was pretty simple; if you’re satisfied with the way things have been going [in Illinois] for the last three or four decades, just keep putting those same people back in office,” Nelson said.

Incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn provided one of the more predictable wins in the primary, defeating his Democratic challenger Tio Hardiman, antiviolence activist. Quinn earned 72 percent of votes to Hardiman’s 28.

David Williams, Sun City resident and communications director for Huntley Seniors for Progressive Action, was happy with Quinn’s victory, but anticipates a “rough and tumble” election.

“I don’t think it’s going to get any nicer as [Quinn and Rauner] go along,” he said. “It’s going to be one of those things where if either one of them has done something that the other doesn’t like, it’s going to get publicized over and over again.”

The race for representative in Illinois’ 14th district was also lopsided, with Dennis Anderson earning 66 percent of votes to defeat John Hosta. Anderson will face incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren in a rematch of the 2012 election.

“His whole attitude is to try to work to get things done rather than to hold some unmovable position on some things,” Williams said of Anderson. “And I think our current congressman [too often] has a fixed position and isn’t really willing to make the small compromises necessary to get everything to work together and actually get something done.”

The contest for U.S. Senator saw businessman and former state senator Jim Oberweis defeat businessman Doug Truax by earning 56 percent of votes to Truax’s 44 percent. Nelson said Tea Party members liked both candidates, who met for a debate in Drendel Hall on March 4. He said that Oberweis’ name recognition helped him get through into what will be a challenging race against incumbent Sen. Dick Durbin.

“That was a big issue was who would stand up to Dick Durbin in the general election and both of those guys got favorable comments from most of our conservative folks,” Nelson said.

Election results for other public offices and ballot referenda for McHenry and Kane Counties can be found at mcvote.org and kanecountyelections.org, respectively.

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