Primary Election: Several contested races in Illinois Q-C

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By Dustin Lemmon | Monday, February 19, 2007 11:50 PM CST | () comments

City council seats in four Rock Island County communities will be hotly contested in the Feb. 27 consolidated primary election with 28 candidates competing in 10 races.

The candidates in all of the races are Democrats with the exception of Rock Island, where they are nonpartisan. No Republican candidates are on the ballots, but the Republican party has until March 26 to nominate candidates to run in the April 17 general election.

Three wards have contested primary races in East Moline, with two incumbent aldermen trying to hold their seats.

In Ward Two, Donna Sansom will try to oust incumbent Luis Puentes in the Democratic primary, while in the 6th Ward Eugene Austin and Roseann Cervantes will attempt to do the same against incumbent Gary Kelley.

Three candidates, Clinton Sullivan, Cheri Bustos and Keene Hart, will compete for the Democratic nomination for the open 4th Ward seat to be vacated by Carol Doose, who decided not to run for re-election.

In Milan, Ill., there are four challengers hoping to be seated as candidates for three open seats. Harry Stuart, Bruce Stickell, Gary Randall and Jay Zimmerman will compete in the Democratic primary. Stuart and Stickell are incumbents.

Nine residents are trying to win primaries in four contested wards in Silvis, Ill.

In Ward One, incumbent Kitty Lopez will defend her seat against challengers Raymond Nees and Chad Vroman. In the 2nd Ward, incumbent William Fox will look to do the same against Allen Masengarb, as will 3rd Ward incumbent Jim Cramblett, who is challenged by Chris Petersen in that city’s Democratic primaries.

In Ward Four, John Ahern and Caryn Unsicker will compete for candidacy for an open seat.

Rock Island residents have two wards with contested races for nonpartisan candidates. In each race voters can vote for one candidate. The two with the most votes will compete in the April 17 general election.

In Ward 6, incumbent Joy Murphy will compete against challengers David Kimbell and Thomas Benson, while in Ward 4, Donna Jungwirth, Robert Lelonek Jr. and Stephen Tollenaer will compete for Daniel Rockwell’s open seat.

In the area, Colona and Kewanee will have primary races for several aldermen seats. No primaries are slated for Carroll, Mercer and Whiteside counties.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.