Thursday, December 22, 2005
Republican Precinct Committeemen Filings in McHenry County
Four of the biggest townships have sub-par precinct committeeman filings.
Algonquin Township, the county’s largest and closest to Chicago, has only 57% of its 66 precincts covered. In school, that would represent a failing grade.
Nunda Township, directly north of Algonquin Township, with 29 precincts, has only 59% covered.
Grafton Township, directly west of Algonquin Township, has 22 precincts with 59% having a candidate.
Dorr Township, which touches Algonquin Township at its northwest tip, ended up with candidate in only 8 of its 14 precincts—57%.
The second largest,, McHenry Township with 33 precincts, fielded 24, giving it an above average 71% filing rate.
Huge portions of Marengo and Chemung (Harvard) remain empty. Half of the four precincts in Marengo Township don’t have a candidate and two of five in McHenry County Republican County Central Committee Chairman Bill LeFew’s home township of Chemung have no candidate.
One precinct in Coral, Greenwood and Burton remain vacant.
People can still run write-in campaigns for the vacant precincts. They need to file a form with the county clerk announcing their intent to run a week ahead of the election. Then, folks seeking the office must convince ten people to write their names in on the primary election ballot. Of course, it is possible that more than one person might run in a given precinct, but, with overall interest so low in holding the position, that is unlikely. (To minimize competition, one should probably plan to file the form on the last day possible.)
Contests for precinct committeeman exist in three precincts, one in Woodstock and two on the McHenry side of Wonder Lake:
· Seneca Township precinct 2. There Jason Bennett of Vermont Road is facing off against Mary McCann of Kishwaukee Valley Road.
· McHenry Township precinct 10, where Marsha Nelson of East Northwood Dr. is running against Missy Sell of East Lake Shore Drive. Both live in Wonder Lake.
· McHenry Township precinct 33 also has a race. County Board member John Hammerand of West Wonder Lake Drive is being challenged by Tony Scimeca of Howe Road. This is a second Wonder Lake contest.
The townships are not listed in alphabetic order. They are in a strange order, which probably goes back more than a century. The first township listed is Riley, which is in the southwestern corner of McHenry County. Townships that follow go up the western Boone-McHenry County border. Then, the row of townships immediately to the east are listed, starting at the north end with Alden and going south to Coral. Again, the row of townships to the east is listed, going from southernmost—Grafton—to Hebron on the Wisconsin border. Shift east another tier and there’s Richmond and Burton. Next comes McHenry, Nunda and Algonquin, going south again.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
Algonquin Township, the county’s largest and closest to Chicago, has only 57% of its 66 precincts covered. In school, that would represent a failing grade.
Nunda Township, directly north of Algonquin Township, with 29 precincts, has only 59% covered.
Grafton Township, directly west of Algonquin Township, has 22 precincts with 59% having a candidate.
Dorr Township, which touches Algonquin Township at its northwest tip, ended up with candidate in only 8 of its 14 precincts—57%.
The second largest,, McHenry Township with 33 precincts, fielded 24, giving it an above average 71% filing rate.
Huge portions of Marengo and Chemung (Harvard) remain empty. Half of the four precincts in Marengo Township don’t have a candidate and two of five in McHenry County Republican County Central Committee Chairman Bill LeFew’s home township of Chemung have no candidate.
One precinct in Coral, Greenwood and Burton remain vacant.
People can still run write-in campaigns for the vacant precincts. They need to file a form with the county clerk announcing their intent to run a week ahead of the election. Then, folks seeking the office must convince ten people to write their names in on the primary election ballot. Of course, it is possible that more than one person might run in a given precinct, but, with overall interest so low in holding the position, that is unlikely. (To minimize competition, one should probably plan to file the form on the last day possible.)
Contests for precinct committeeman exist in three precincts, one in Woodstock and two on the McHenry side of Wonder Lake:
· Seneca Township precinct 2. There Jason Bennett of Vermont Road is facing off against Mary McCann of Kishwaukee Valley Road.
· McHenry Township precinct 10, where Marsha Nelson of East Northwood Dr. is running against Missy Sell of East Lake Shore Drive. Both live in Wonder Lake.
· McHenry Township precinct 33 also has a race. County Board member John Hammerand of West Wonder Lake Drive is being challenged by Tony Scimeca of Howe Road. This is a second Wonder Lake contest.
The townships are not listed in alphabetic order. They are in a strange order, which probably goes back more than a century. The first township listed is Riley, which is in the southwestern corner of McHenry County. Townships that follow go up the western Boone-McHenry County border. Then, the row of townships immediately to the east are listed, starting at the north end with Alden and going south to Coral. Again, the row of townships to the east is listed, going from southernmost—Grafton—to Hebron on the Wisconsin border. Shift east another tier and there’s Richmond and Burton. Next comes McHenry, Nunda and Algonquin, going south again.
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 3:07 PM
