Republican sweep Kane countywide offices
By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com November 6, 2012 8:56PM
Tao Martinez is the Democratic candidate for Kane County coroner.
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Updated: December 8, 2012 6:08AM
GENEVA – It was a clean sweep of countywide offices for Republicans in Tuesday’s election.
Bob Russell of Elgin won as coroner and Tom Hartwell, an Elgin attorney, won as Circuit Clerk in two races with no incumbents. Incumbent Sandy Wegman, also of Elgin, won her third term as county recorder.
In the coroner’s race, Russell topped Democrat opponent Tao Martinez by about 11,000 votes.
Although neither candidate was an incumbent, both ran on their records of experience. Martinez founded a company which helps with cleanups at death scenes and Russell is a sergeant with the DuPage County sheriff’s office.
Martinez has said he is certified to assist coroners, medical examiners and law enforcement in five states. Russell has said in his 20 years in law enforcement he conducted numerous death investigations and he is a certified homicide investigator.
The winner of the coroner contest will take over an office that has been embroiled in turmoil over the past few years, with the late Coroner Chuck West facing both criminal misconduct and civil harassment charges. West died last July, and both cases have since been dropped.
In the race for circuit clerk, Hartwell topped Democratic challenger Ed Nendick of Aurora by about 12,000 votes. Both had proposed ideas for saving money and using new technology in the circuit clerk’s office.
In the Recorder of Deeds race, Wegman won handily, beating Democrat challenger Brenda Rodgers by about 30,000 votes.
