Four new Fox Valley mayoral races: Geneva, East Dundee, Hampshire, West Dundee
The final day of candidate filing added four more contested village president and mayoral races in the Fox Valley to what was already shaping up to be a spring election with possible sweeping changes in local government.
Geneva, East Dundee, Hampshire and West Dundee will all have contested races for the top spot in local government.
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns has been part of the city government since 1997. To keep that streak alive, he'll face a rematch of the 2017 election. Resident Tom Simonian will take another shot at unseating Burns.
Simonian has remained highly critical of the way things are done in Geneva over the last four years. He lost to Burns by about 1,500 votes in their first contest.
In East Dundee, Village President Lael Miller will face current Trustee Jeff Lynam.
In West Dundee, incumbent Village President Christopher Nelson will take on newcomer Joseph Connell.
And in Hampshire, incumbent Village President Jeffery Magnussen will take on Trustee Michael Reid Jr., whose term on the village board is expiring.
Those three races join St. Charles, Sugar Grove and Aurora, where the mayoral and village president spots are also contested.
In St. Charles, aldermen Maureen Lewis and Lora Vitek will go against each other to fill the seat being vacated by Mayor Ray Rogina. Rogina is not seeking a new term.
Longtime Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels will be challenged by Trustee Jennifer Konen.
And three people are seeking the position of mayor in Aurora: incumbent Richard Irvin, alderman Judd Lofchie and resident John Laesch. Aurora candidates filed their petitions in November.
Also of note was Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke filing petitions in what appears to be an uncontested effort to remain one of the longest-serving community leaders in the state. Schielke has been mayor for 39 years.
In contrast, the Batavia village board may see quite a bit of change.
In the First Ward, Alderman Jennifer Baerren is set to move from her 2-year seat to take over the 4-year seat held by Michael O'Brien. Newcomer Christopher Solfa would take over Baerren's current position. In the Second Ward, newcomer Leah Leman is set to replace Martin Callahan. George Ajazi is set to take over for Elliot Meitzler in the Third Ward. Sarah Vogels was the only candidate to file for the Seventh Ward seat served by Drew McFadden. And Sixth Ward incumbent Nicholas Cerone faces a challenge from Shaunak Dave. None of those races are contested.
LeJewel Crigler became the fourth candidate to file for a seat on the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board. Incumbents Melissa Owens and Veronica Noland seek new terms. Newcomer Dawn Martin also seeks a seat. Incumbent Donna Smith is not seeking reelection. There are three 4-year school board seats open.
The St. Charles Unit District 303 school board will have a new president after the spring election. Current President Nick Mannheim is not seeking reelection, but incumbents Heidi Fairgrieve, Ed McNally and Carolyn Waibel all seek new terms. Newcomers Kate Bell and Jim Stombres seek to join the board for the first time. There are four 4-year board seats open.