For Republican Gayle Franzen, his successful campaign this fall for chairman of the DuPage County Board might be a mere skirmish before what could be the more challenging political battle ahead.
As expected, Franzen, 49, a wealthy investment banker from Wheaton and a protege of former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, coasted to victory in his first-ever run for elected office.
Republicans also swept the county offices and the 12 County Board seats up for election this year in DuPage.
In Kane County’s hottest election contest, Republican Kenneth Ramsey appeared to have defeated Democrat Al Marshall in the race to succeed retiring Sheriff John Randall. Ramsey had about 70 percent of the vote with close to half of the precincts reporting.
Ramsey, a sheriff’s lieutenant who had coveted the top job since he joined the department more than 15 years ago, had to fend off a barrage of charges and a clever campaign slogan from Marshall, 52, who retired after 30 years as an investigator with the Illinois State Police.
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“The voters had faith in me and my message,” said Ramsey, 45.
Kane County voters also cast ballots for County Board members and other countywide offices, but there were few contested races-only three of the 13 seats up for election this year on the Kane County Board were contested.
Meanwhile, Franzen’s next chore will be pushing his programs and appointments through an often-fractious DuPage County Board, whose members may be reluctant to give up the powers they had wrested from outgoing board Chairman Aldo Botti. There already has been grumbling from some quarters over Franzen’s efforts to reduce the salary of the board chairman in next year’s budget and over his call for changes at the DuPage Airport.
Franzen promised, though, that he would work to end infighting among DuPage Republicans.
“We are too big to keep fighting,” he said. “That will end tonight. No more.”
Franzen claimed victory about 9 p.m. before about 200 elated supporters and family members at the Drake Oak Brook Hotel.
“The next four years are going to be pulling people together in this county,” he said. “The last four years we’ve spent too much time fighting with each other in a Republican county. I never understood how the last four years we could have fallen back. We have forgotten who we are here to serve, and that’s you.”
With nearly all of the precincts reporting, Franzen had about 74 percent of the vote and a 91,000-vote margin over Democrat Richard H. Owens, a Naperville resident and an administrator at Lewis University in Romeoville.
Even in defeat, Owens was claiming that Democrats had made progress, contending that Republicans had adopted their positions on issues.
Botti, a political maverick who had feuded with the county’s GOP leaders, opted not to seek re-election this year.
Franzen had praise for Botti’s efforts, saying he had the best interest of the county in mind but “was a person who did not know how to run government.”
“He was a man who tried and wanted to do well,” Franzen said. “He was not experienced at doing it.”
Also in DuPage, GOP incumbents-Sheriff Richard Doria, County Clerk Gary King and Treasurer John L. Novak-easily won re-election in a county that traditionally has elected Republicans.
Republican Berardo DeSimone, regional school superintendent, was unopposed in his bid for re-election.
In the races for the 12 County Board seats up for election, Republicans also beat back Democratic efforts by comfortable margins. The top GOP vote-getter appeared to be board member Irene Stone (R-Lombard), a District 2 incumbent.
Stone had faced accusations that her record of attendance at County Board and Forest Preserve Commission meetings was lackluster.
No Democrat has won election to a county office in DuPage since 1986, when Jane Spirgel of Elmhurst left the County Board.
For Franzen, the fall campaign for County Board chairman was low-profile and a bit anticlimactic after his hotly contested victory in the GOP primary.
A self-proclaimed political insider, Franzen raised more than $540,000 for the primary campaign. He collected a fraction of that for the fall election.
During the primary, he had to fend off a barrage of attacks from fellow Republicans who questioned his political ties, his campaign spending, his past record as state corrections chief and executive director of the Illinois Toll Highway Authority and his interest in a Joliet riverboat casino.
The fall campaign was polite and low-voltage by comparison. Franzen aired no commercials on cable TV, sent no mailings and made only two joint appearances with Owens, though he had hoped for more.
Owens, 46, made a point of going door-to-door to meet people and listen to their concerns.
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But on a crowded ballot dominated by statewide contests, local races usually are won more on name recognition and party loyalty than on the sometimes philosophical discussion of general issues that Owens favored.