Just a quick note on the District 5 County Board race….
This seat is currently held by James Healy, the only Republican out of 3 members who represent the 5th district. District 5 was drawn to include all Naperville Township, a significant portion of western Lisle Township, and a couple precincts in Winfield Township. Major cities in the district are Naperville and Aurora.
This poses quite a problem for the Republican candidate, Naperville Councilman Kevin Coyne, because the district is perhaps the most Democratic in the county. Only 3 precincts out of 164 in the district were won by Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Though both Democratic board candidates lost that year, a lot has changed at the local level since then, and it seems like it will be tough for Coyne to make up such a big partisan gap, even as he leans into his experience as a city councilmember in Naperville. The Democratic nominee, Amy Chavez, won the primary in somewhat of an upset against Lisle Township Supervisor Mary Jo Mullen, who had been endorsed by the Daily Herald. Today, Chavez announced a trio of endorsements from U.S. Reps Casten (IL-6), Foster (IL-11), and Underwood (IL-14). This district is perhaps the most likely to go Democratic on November 3rd…..
Which may explain why Kevin Coyne picked up Naperville City Candidate petitions when they became available, a piece of information made public by Positively Naperville. The filing deadline for Naperville City Council candidates is actually 20 days after the November 3rd general election, which gives plenty of time for Coyne to decide to file for re-election if he loses; Coyne could even collect signatures while canvassing or at other campaign events for his county board bid.
Of course, there is a possibility Coyne is simply picking up a packet for another prospective candidate.
But it seems unlikely to me.
—Nick Mastro
DuPage Politics 