Briley to face Callahan in county sheriff’s race

By: 
STAFF REPORT

     It’s a familiar post primary election headline, Ken Briley is moving on to the November election with the hopes of unseating the incumbent sheriff. Garnering 70 percent of the vote, Briley secured the Republican nomination for sheriff and will go up against Kevin Callahan, Grundy County’s sheriff since 2012.
    The two faced each other in the 2014 general election with Callahan earning 53.6 percent of the vote, a difference of 1,204 votes.
    Briley earned his party’s nomination over Jason Flanders, a Kendall County Sheriff’s deputy who collected 1,215 votes, well under Briley’s 2,845.
    Briley is a patrol officer with the Minooka Police Department, he’s a part-timer with the Coal City Police Department and a former Illinois Department of Corrections warden who oversaw Stateville Correctional Center.
    Callahan has been with the sheriff’s department since 1983 and worked his way through the ranks. In 2004, he was named deputy chief and assumed the sheriff’s post following the unexpected death of Terry Marketti.
    Callahan was officially appointed sheriff in January 2013 and was then elected to his first full term in November 2014.
    The sheriff’s race is one of a handful countywide.
    Grundy voters will also elect representatives to the county board, a treasurer and county clerk and recorder.
    Incumbent county clerk Kay Olson, a Democrat from Morris, is uncontested in her bid for a second term in office.
    Grundy County treasurer Lori Werden, a Republican from Morris, is seeking a second term and faces a challenge by Coal City Democrat Tim Bradley.
    Ten of the 18 county board seats are up for election this fall.
    In District 3, that covers the villages of Coal City, Diamond and Carbon Hill, two Republicans and two Democrats are seeking the three available seats.
    Incumbents Mike Onorato, a Coal City Democrat, and Doug Boresi, a Coal City Republican, are looking to be re-elected. Joining the race are Gardner Democrat James ‘Jake’ Olson and Caleb Counterman, a Coal City Republican.
    Long-time board member Richard ‘Dick’ Joyce is not seeking re-election.
    In District 1, incumbent Ken Iverson is the only Democrat on the ballot. On the Republican side, a primary victory moves Drew Muffler, Don A. Neushwander, Jr., and Millie Dyer on to the November election. The three beat out Elton L. Monson for the party nomination.
    David Valdivia is uncontested in his race to retain the seat he was appointed to in March 2017 to fill the seat vacated by District 1 board member Vicki Geiger. Retention will take him through the remaining two years of her term.
    In County Board District 2 Democrat John Serena is seeking election and will face Republicans Chris Balkema, Debra Warning and Greg Ridenour. Warning and Balkema are incumbents, the latter serving as the current board chairman.
    District 2 board member Kerri Courtright opted not to seek re-election.
    Grundy County has 33,916 registered voters and 27.7 percent cast a ballot in the March 20 primary, just over 580 voters took advantage of early voting.
    In statewide races on the Republican ticket incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner won the support of Grundy County’s Republican voters picking up 50.65 percent of the vote. His challenger Jeanne Ives earned 49.35 percent of the county vote.
    Rauner won the party nomination and will face Democrat JB Pritzker in November.
    Grundy County Democrats put their support behind Pritzker who garnered 1,588 votes. In a flip flop of the statewide results Chris Kennedy came in second and Daniel Bliss third. There were three other Democrats in the race who earned a combined 72 Grundy County votes.
    Pat Quinn was the voter’s choice for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General, but Kwame Raoul who came in second here, earned the party’s nomination and will face Ericka Harold who won the Republican nomination. She garnered 57.35 percent of the Grundy vote over challenger Gary Grasso.
    Grundy County State’s Attorney Jason Helland, a Republican is seeking statewide office in November as he seeks to take over the Secretary of State’s office from Jesse White, a Democrat, who is in his fifth term.
    Democrat Michael W. Frerichs, the state’s current treasurer, is facing a challenge from Republican Jim Dodge. Incumbent Comptroller Suzanna Mendoza will face Republican Darlene Senger in November.
    Republican State Senator Sue Rezin is seeking re-election and will face a challenge by Democrat Heidi Henry.
    For seats in the Illinois House of Representatives, incumbent David Welter is unopposed in his bid for re-election to the 75th District. In the 79th District incumbent Republican Lindsay Parkhurst will face a challenge by former representative Lisa Dugan, a Democrat from Bradley.
    Additionally, voters will elect a representative to Congress. Incumbent Republican Adam Kinzinger captured his party’s nomination over James T. ‘Jim’ Marter. On the Democratic side Sara Dady earned the party nomination. She was the top vote getter in Grundy County from a field of four candidates.
    The general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 6.