Elgin City Council incumbents Tish Powell, John Steffen, and Rose Martinez were leading in the polls early Tuesday evening, joined by newcomer Anthony Ortiz, according to preliminary election results.
Four seats, each with a four-year term, were up for election. Councilman Toby Shaw didn’t run for reelection. Martinez, Steffen and Powell each sought another term.
Nine candidates ran on the ballot: Diana Alfaro, Martinez, Anthony Ortiz, Karin Jones, Christina “Tia” Aagesen, Steffen, Ismael Cordova, Marcus E. Banner and Powell.
The top vote-getters as of right now are Powell with 38.40% of the vote, followed by Steffen with 37.85%, according to the Kane County Clerk’s Office. Martinez had 32.5% and Ortiz had 31.79% with 13 out of 56 precincts reporting in Kane County and 13 out of 13 precincts reporting in Cook County.
Rounding out the list were: Alfaro with 27.16%, Jones with 24.24%, Aagesen with 23.71%, Cordova with15.60%, and Banner with 10.01 %. A 10th candidate, Mark Smith, appeared on the ballot but withdrew from the race.
Steffen ran for a fifth term. The Elgin attorney co-founded the Downtown Neighborhood Association and has served on numerous boards, including the Housing Authority of Elgin. Powell spearheaded the Community Task Force on Policing with Councilman Corey Dixon, and she is the council’s liaison for its Elgin Cultural Arts Commission. Martinez, who retired from the U.S. Postal Service, is fiscally conservative and has championed several traffic safety initiatives.
Ortiz, who was recently awarded a belated Purple Star for his service in the U.S. Marines, ran four years ago. Jones is a member of the Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission while Aagesen served on the city’s Sustainability Commission. Cordova and Banner were members of the Community Task Force on Policing, an advisory board that looked at Elgin Police Department’s policies and procedures.
All votes are unofficial because of mail-in and provisional ballots won’t be counted until after the election.