Just over 35 percent of registered Wayne County voters turned out for Tuesday’s primary election, with all 27 precincts reporting. A total of 3,949 ballots were cast out of 11,117 registered voters with the results still unofficial.
The closest race of the night came in the Republican primary for County Clerk, where Billie-Jo “BJ” Townsend narrowly defeated Janet Billington by 51 votes. Townsend received 1,785 votes (50 percent), while Billington followed closely with 1,734 votes (49 percent).
In the Republican race for County Treasurer, Yvette Anderson secured a decisive victory with 2,571 votes (74 percent), defeating Celeste Garrett, who received 886 votes (25 percent). Amy L. Sager ran unopposed for Supervisor of Assessments, earning 3,030 votes, while Kyle A. Ellis was unopposed for State’s Attorney to fill an unexpired two-year term, receiving 2,984 votes.
The Republican primary for County Coroner saw a three-way race, with Ryan Best winning with 2,004 votes (56 percent). Tom Windland received 915 votes (25 percent), and current Wayne County Coroner, Shari Winter garnered 634 votes (17 percent). Best will officially take over as Wayne County Coroner in December. Chris Otey ran unopposed for County Sheriff, receiving 3,252 votes.
At the state level, Darren Bailey and Aaron B. Del Mar led the Republican gubernatorial primary locally with 3,208 votes (89 percent), far ahead of other tickets. Diane M. Harris won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in the county with 2,153 votes (71 percent), defeating Walter Adamczyk.
Bryan Drew ran unopposed for Republican Comptroller, receiving 2,818 votes, while Robert W. Fioretti won the Attorney General primary with 2,694 votes (98 percent). In the 116th District State Representative race, Dave Severin defeated Angela Evans with 2,208 votes (63 percent) to 1,244 votes (36 percent).
Sarah E. Emery secured the Republican nomination for Regional Superintendent of Schools with 2,431 votes (82 percent), defeating Shain Crank. Matthew E. Vaughn ran unopposed for Circuit Court Judge, receiving 3,203 votes, and Mike Bost was unopposed for the 12th Congressional District, earning 3,093 votes.
On the Democratic side, participation was significantly lower, with many races uncontested. J.B. Pritzker and Christian Mitchell ran unopposed for governor and lieutenant governor, receiving 228 votes, while Alexi Giannoulias received 233 votes for Secretary of State. Kwame Raoul was unopposed for Attorney General with 226 votes, and Michael W. Frerichs received 230 votes for Treasurer.
In the Democratic Comptroller race, Holly Kim led with 94 votes (42 percent), followed by Karina Villa with 54 votes (24 percent) and Stephanie A. Kifowit with 24 votes (10 percent). Juliana Stratton led the Democratic U.S. Senate primary locally with 82 votes (34 percent), followed by Robin Kelly and Kevin Ryan.
Several county board races were uncontested, with Chad Edmison (District 1), Eddie Barbre (District 3), Cody Ehrhart (District 4), Elizabeth “Liz Ann” Woodrow (District 5), and Gene Kollak (District 7) each winning their respective seats.
Additional uncontested races included Amy E. Sholar for Appellate Court Judge and multiple precinct committeeperson positions across the county.
Overall, the primary election in Wayne County was marked by strong Republican turnout, several uncontested races, and a handful of closely watched contests at the county level.