Naperville residents — including Councilwoman Patty Gustin — to fill a sixth of the seats on DuPage County Board

With two more Naperville residents being added the DuPage County Board as a result of Tuesday’s election, a sixth of the 18-member board could hail from the city.

All of the seats on the County Board were open as a result of the 2020 Census redistricting so voters were tasked with electing three members in each of the board’s six districts.

While District 5 still comprises most of Naperville and sections of Aurora, boundary shifts and growth in the fourth largest city in the state caused Naperville to outgrow its former District 5 boundaries to the north and east.

One of the new faces in District 5 will be Naperville City Councilwoman Patricia “Patty” Gustin, who is expected to join Naperville’s Sadia Covert and Dawn DeSart, of Aurora, on the board after the vote count is certified later this month.

“I am so looking forward to working with everyone on the County Board, some (of whom) I know from my time on council and some new faces,” she said.

Unofficial results show Gustin, the lone Republican in the District 5 race, with 25.27% of the vote and incumbent Democrats DeSart and Covert with 29.05% and 23.36% respectively.

Gustin said she’s still weighing her options as to whether she’s going to step down from the City Council. She’s willing to juggle both roles, “if Naperville needs me too,” she said.

Her council term expires in April, and she may seek reelection, she said.

She’ll have to decide quickly since the deadline to file to run for Naperville mayor and council is Nov. 28.

The fourth candidate running in District 5 was Saba Haider, an Aurora resident who received 22.32% of the vote. She was a last-minute addition to the Democratic ticket to replace incumbent Amy Chavez, who resigned from the board and withdrew from the race because her family was moving out of state.

In District 3, Democrat Lucy Chang Evans, of Naperville, is expected to join the board along with incumbent Brian Krajewski, of Downers Grove, and fellow Republican Kari Galassi, of Hinsdale.

Unofficial results show Evans with 18.41% of the vote, Galassi with 17.26%, and Krajewski with 16.78%.

Evans on Facebook said surviving an election campaign is the biggest barrier to holding public office.

“Regardless of which political party you are on, I hope everyone can appreciate the time and energy it takes to run for office,” Evans said.

Of the other candidates who ran in District 3, Greg Abbott received 16.3% of the vote, Amanda Roudebush had 15.93% and Rosemary Spann had 15.32%, unofficial results show.

District 3 covers southeastern DuPage, including the Naperville neighborhoods of University Heights, Cinnamon Creek and Green Ridge Estates.

All three incumbents will be returning to their seats in District 6, which covers northwest DuPage, including a portion of the new Naper Commons development north of the Nokia property at Warrenville and Naperville roads.

Unofficial results show Democratic incumbents Sheila Rutledge, of West Chicago, and Greg Schwarze, of Carol Stream, with 18.7% of the vote and 16.92% respectively, and Republican incumbent James Zay Jr., of Carol Stream, with 18.22%

Republican challengers Robert “Bob” Larsen and Christine Jennifer Winger are at 16.81% and 15.72% respectively, and Democratic challenger Jaime Ricklefs received 13.63%, according to unofficial figures.

The makeup of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Board of Commissioners will remain the same as all seven incumbents are poised to return to their seats.

Daniel Hebreard, currently serving as board president, was able to hold off a challenge by Republican Robert Schillerstrom, a former board commissioner and chairman of the DuPage County Board for more than a decade.

According to unofficial results, Hebreard received 51% of the vote to Schillerstrom’s 49%.

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Unofficial results also show:

District 5 Commissioner Barbara O’Meara, a Democrat, with 60% of the vote and Republican challenger Elizabeth Folk Van Arsdell with 40%;

District 3 Commissioner Linda Painter, a Republican, with 51% and Democratic challenger Marybeth Carlsen with 49%;

District 2 Commissioner Tina Tyson Dunne, a Democrat, with 53% and Republican challenger Don Krause with 47%.

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