Orland Park Mayor Keith  Pekau poses at Liberty School Tuesday during the primary election. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau poses at Liberty School Tuesday during the primary election. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Pekau vs. Casten ready to rumble in 6th Distict

Spread the love

By Jeff Vorva

The preliminaries are over in the newly aligned 6th Congressional District.

Now it’s time for the main event.

Pekau vs. Casten.

After Tuesday’s primary election, Keith Pekau, the mayor of Orland Park, had a huge lead over five opponents on the Republican side and is ready to take on Democratic survivor Sean Casten, who unofficially beat out fellow incumbent Marie Newman. Results won’t become official until they are certified in the coming weeks.

During Pekau’s celebration at Papa Joe’s in Orland Park, he predicted there would be few fence-sitters when it comes to this race against Casten, which concludes Nov. 8.

“People have a distinct choice,” Pekau said. “We have opposite views on just about everything.

“He’s on record as running against veterans. I support veterans. He’s on record as wanting higher gas prices. I don’t want to see higher gas prices. He’s on record supporting [Cook County State’s Attorney] Kim Foxx’s policies. I want to see lower crime. People will have a clear choice on who is going to represent the district.”

Unofficial totals from the Cook County Clerk’s Office and DuPage County showed Pekau with a heavy lead in the district with six out of the 227 Cook County precincts yet to be released.

Pekau had 19,335 votes to lead the pack.

Burr Ridge’s Gary Grasso, another mayor that was in the race, was a distant second with 13,693.

Riverside-Brookfield grad and Glen Ellyn resident Niki Conforti had 5,808, Oak Lawn’s Catherine O’Shea had 5,001, Orland Park’s Scott Kaspar had 3,465 and Robert Cruz 2,892 to round out the field.

Pekau has been involved in three elections in his career. He defeated incumbent Dan McLaughlin, who served 28 years as Orland Park’s mayor, in 2017 and beat McLaughlin again in a rematch in 2021. Now, Tuesday’s triumph in a district that includes several southern and western suburbs.

“There’s still another election to go and that’s what we’re going to focus on,” Pekau said. “The team worked hard and a lot of volunteers that we had just shows the grassroots support. We’re going to carry that support into November.”

During his time running Orland Park, Pekau has been outspoken about Gov. JB Pritzker’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the governor shut down businesses, forced many schools to go remote and pressured the Illinois High School Association to shut down athletics.

He has also called out Foxx a number of times for leniency on felons.

Pekau served in the Air Force as an instructor weapons system officer with 150 combat hours in Southern Iraq. Then he became a small businessman, founding GroundsKeeper Landscape Care and co-founding Fahrenheit Consulting.

He notes the lower crime in his town since he took over in 2017 and has enjoyed accolades of Orland being one of the safest and best towns to live in by independent sources.

Pekau said that if he wins the seat in November, he would not try to hold two political jobs and would give up his position at Orland Park mayor.

Local News

thumbnail_LIHWAP FLYER

Summit approves deal with CEDA for water assistance

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Help may be on the way for some Summit residents that have trouble paying their water bills. The Summit Village Board recently approved an ordinance authorizing an agreement by, and between the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County. It’s a vendor agreement for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance…

Ryan Grace, the new village administrator, with Willow Springs mayor Melissa Neddermeyer (center), and Meghan Grace, his wife, after his Jan. 27 hiring. (Photos by Steve Metsch)

Willow Springs hires Grace as village administrator

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Citing his experience in Lyons, Willow Springs Mayor Melissa Neddermeyer said Ryan Grace was the best of five finalists interviewed for the job of village administrator. Grace, 38, had been public works director in Lyons the past four years, working on a wide range of village issues and events in…

Charisma Ehresman

Body of missing Forest View woman found

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan The search for 20-year-old Charisma Ehresman of Forest View is over. The body of the young woman was found Friday evening in her vehicle in Chicago’s South Austin neighborhood, on the city’s west side, which borders Oak Park. The car had apparently been there for several days. The Cook County…

Members of the Heritage Middle School Cheer Team at their recent competition. (Supplied photos)

Heritage Middle School cheer team takes first

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Congratulations are in order for the Heritage Middle School Cheer Team. The team competed for the first time on Saturday, January 15, at Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont and took first place. It was a huge accomplishment for the team and Summit School District 104 is very proud of…

Sandburg’s boys bowling just missed bringing home a trophy but had its best showing ever at the state meet.  Photo courtesy of Sandburg High School

Area Sports Roundup: Sandburg bowls ’em over at state; Marist cheerleaders win sectional

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Is there a state trophy coming for the Sandburg boys bowling team in the future? With this unpredictable sport, that’s hard to predict. But after a fourth-place finish in the IHSA state tournament, held Jan. 28-29 at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon, the needle is pointing up. The…

Evergreen Park’s competitive dance team shows intensity while finishing sixth in Class 1A in the state dance competition on Saturday in Bloomington. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Intense dance performance nets Evergreen Park sixth place at state finals

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Actual competitive dancing returned to the state level this year and Evergreen Park’s dancers couldn’t be happier. The Mustangs are on the rise, and the team enjoyed its highest state finish by placing sixth in Class 1A in the IHSA state meet held Jan. 28-29 at Grossinger Motors…

Niklas Polonowski  drives around Glenbard West’s Bobby Durkin in the first half of a West Suburban Silver game on Jan. 28. Polonowski led Lyons with 20 points. Photo by Steve Metsch

Lyons rally falls short against unbeaten Glenbard West

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Correspondent The third time was not the charm. Lyons, which had lost games by 37 and 32 points to Glenbard West earlier this season, headed into their third matchup of the season hoping to break through against the unbeaten Hilltoppers. With a frenzied, near-capacity home crowd behind them, the Lions…

Ray Hanania

GOP needs this centrist with common sense

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Ray Hanania Four years ago, Sean Morrison barely won re-election over an unknown Democrat, by only 1,377 votes of 121,767 votes cast. I supported Morrison, believing his promise to be a “commonsense centrist” who would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Liz Gorman, and not join the radical far right. Gorman,…

Rich Miller

Not your grandfather’s petition drive

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Rich Miller I’ve been fascinated by election petition-gathering season this year because of the adjusted primary schedule, the crazy Omicron variant, and the prevailing fear of crime, not to mention the awful weather. Petition season was always during the fall. But because the primary was moved to June 28, petition circulators now…

Liam Crotty of Chicago Christian hits the go-ahead 3-point basket in the final minute of a 44-40 victory over Shepard on Jan. 26. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Cool customers: Chicago Christian snaps losing streak with tight win over Shepard

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Chicago Christian’s players acted cool after the game. No yelling. No jumping around. No histrionics. It was a subdued celebration after a 44-40 road victory over Shepard on Jan. 26 in the Battle of Palos Heights. The Knights acted like they had been there before, even though the…

Neighbors

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party. Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in…

Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday creating a new cabinet-level state agency dedicated to early childhood education and development. The new Department of Early Childhood, which will become operational in July 2026, will take over programs currently housed across three state agencies, including funding for preschool…

Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’

Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is urging a Cook County judge to dismiss a lawsuit members of his staff filed against him last month seeking to force recognition of their union. In a new filing Monday, attorneys for Welch argued the Illinois Legislative Staff Association has no…

Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated

Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com After the U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld a federal law that bars those under domestic violence-related restraining orders from owning guns, victim advocates say Illinois lawmakers should pass a measure to ensure firearms are actually confiscated in those situations. The legislation has been stalled for more than…

Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details

Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details

By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Jimmy Soto spent more than 42 years wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. In 2020, he was moved to the “F-House” at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a condemned unit, not because he was being punished, but because it was where the facility was housing individuals…

Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign

Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…

State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’

State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death.  But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party. Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in…

As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails

As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails

by JENNIFER BAMBERG Investigate Midwest jennifer.bamberg@investigatemidwest.org In 2006, 19-year-old Jessica Whinston inherited 20 acres of land that her grandparents once farmed in Quincy, Illinois. The land had sat dormant since the 1980s and was overgrown, but Whinston and her husband Bradley worked to turn it into a productive farm. The couple were eventually able to…

Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law

Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – State elections officials on Tuesday indicated they were unlikely to step in to clarify what constitutes illegal campaign coordination after voting to dismiss a complaint alleging such coordination in the 2022 campaign for governor. At their monthly meeting in Chicago, Illinois State Board of Elections members…