McHenry Times

There are 13 competitive school board races in McHenry County, according to an analysis of candidate filings by the McHenry Times.

Of the 13 school boards, six currently have Republican majorities and five Democrat ones, according to an analysis of elected official primary voting history.

All told-- 91 candidates are running for 45 open seats across the 13 districts, including 40 incumbents.

That includes 42 Republicans, 28 Democrats and eight independents.

In Algonquin CUSD 300, six challengers are looking to press a board led by Democrat David Scarpino of Hampshire, who last year kicked parents out of school board meetings, accusing them of "over dramatizing" their accounts of challenges children faced while he kept schools closed.

Of the 91 current school board slots in the thirteen competitive districts, 43 are held by Republicans, 40 by Democrats and eight by an independent.

Election Day is Tues. April 4.

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Which 2023 races are competitive in McHenry County?

Eleven school board races are in the balance on April 4. 

School Board	Current Split	Seats Up	Inc. Running	total	DEM	GOP	Other
McHenry SD 156	5-2 REPUBLICAN	3	4	4	1	3	0
Cary CCSD 26	4-3 DEMOCRAT	3	3	5	2	2	1
Nippersink SD 2	3-3-1 TIE	3	3	6	1	3	2
McHenry SD 15	4-3 REPUBLICAN	3	3	4	1	3	0
Barrington CUSD 220	4-3 DEMOCRAT	3	2	7	3	4	0
Wauconda CUSD 118	2-1-3 REPUBLICAN	3	2	4	2	2	0
Johnsburg SD 12	3-3-1 TIE	3	4	4	1	2	1
Huntley SD 158	6-1 REPUBLICAN	4	4	12	2	10	0
Algonquin CUSD 300	5-2 DEMOCRAT	4	2	8	3	5	0
Crystal Lake CHSD 115	4-3 REPUBLICAN	3	4	4	3	1	0
Fox River SD 2	5-1-1 DEMOCRAT	3	3	5	4	0	1
Prairie Grove SD 46	3-2-2 DEMOCRAT	5	4	6	2	3	1
Crystal Lake SD 47	5-2 REPUBLICAN	5	2	9	3	4	2
TOTALS		45	40	78	28	42	8

Cary CCSD 26
Current Split	4-3	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	5
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Deanna Darling (I)	D	Cary	58
Jason Janczak (I)	R	Cary	45
Kathryn Potter (I)	D	Cary	39
Loraine Perry	R	Cary	47
Nancy Swart	NV	Hawthorn Woods	80
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Anne Santucci	R	Cary	43
Stacey Sault	D	Cary	39
Julie Jette	R	Cary	65
Melinda Hartman	D	Cary	38
McHenry SD 15
Current Split	4-3	REPUBLICAN
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Matthew Stauner (I)	R	McHenry	51
Arne Waltmire (I)	D	McHenry	70
Emily Jay	R	McHenry	40
Patrick J. Degeorge (I)	R	McHenry	42
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Chad Mihevc	D	McHenry	52
Lindsay Morley	D	McHenry	43
Rachel McDonnell	R	Wonder Lake	40
Jennifer Synek	R	McHenry	48
Nippersink SD 2
Current Split	3-3-1	TIE
Seats up	3
Candidates running	5
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Mary Shufelt	R	Spring Grove	39
Alie Stansbury	D	Spring Grove	44
Ryan R. Andrus (I)	R	Spring Grove	43
Joseph P. Quinn (I)	NV	Spring Grove	44
Tom Schwartz (I)	R	Richmond	38
Natalie Mailfald	NV	Spring Grove	45
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Liz Young	D	Spring Grove	48
Elke Kleisch	D	Spring Grove	53
Joel Johnson	R	Spring Grove	38
Robin S. Taylor	D	Spring Grove	57
McHenry SD 156
Current Split	5-2	Republican
Seats up	4
Candidates running	5
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Nicole Morrow (I)	R	McHenry	43
Dawn L. Bremer (I)	D	McHenry	52
Timothy R. Hying (I)	R	McHenry	58
Colleen Galvicius	R	McHenry	44
Steve Bellmore	R	McHenry	63
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Amanda A. Lobbins	R	McHenry	50
Pat Arnold	D	McHenry	43
Ronald Fischer	R	Lakemoor	62
Gary Kinshofer	R	McHenry	55
Barrington CUSD 220
Current Split	4-3	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	7
Candidate	Party	Hometown	Age
Diana L. Clopton	D	North Barrington	42
Nelda K. Munoz	R	Barrington	43
Leonard G. Munson	R	Barrington	58
Barry Altshuler (I)	D	North Barrington	65
Katey T .Baldassano	R	Barrington	48
Matt Sheriff	R	Port Barrington	50
Leah E. Collister-Lazzari (I)	D	Barrington	58
Existing Board Members
Erin Chan Ding	D	South Barrington	41
Sandra L. Ficke-Bradford	D	Barrington	55
Steve Wang	R	Barrington	38
Katie Karam	R	Barrington	46
Members leaving board
Angela C. Wilcox	R	Barrington Hills	48
Wauconda CUSD 118
Current Split	2-1-3	REPUBLICAN
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Robert Collins (I)	R	Volo	52
Cynthia Marie Henrichs	D	Volo	37
Ryan A. Berka	R	Lake Villa	39
Vincent J. Torossy (I)	D	Wauconda	30
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Carey McHugh	R	Port Barrington	53
Lourdes Chapa	NV	Volo	50
Jonathan Feryance	NV	Wauconda	51
Kimberly Miller	NV	Port Barrington	51
Johnsburg SD 12
Current Split	3-3-1	TIE
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Meghan A. Michel (I)	R	Johnsburg	46
Corrie Eastland	NV	McHenry	41
Valerie L. Klos (I)	R	Johnsburg	46
Margaret E. Germann (I)	D	Ringwood	42
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Tom Oeffling	D	McHenry	52
Jim Barrett	R	Johnsburg	47
Cathy Neiss	D	Johnsburg	67
Jerry Harker	D	Johnsburg	56
Huntley SD 158
Current Split	6-1	REPUBLICAN
Seats up	4
Candidates running	12
2023 Candidates- 4 yr.	Party	Hometown	Age
Katherine Policheri	R	Union	46
Jonathan Dailey (I)	R	Huntley	40
Melissa M. Maiorino (I)	R	Huntley	54
Stephen G. Buchs	R	Huntley	45
William Geheren (I)	R	Huntley	54
Laura M. Murray	R	Algonquin	47
Andrew Bittman	R	Algonquin	51
Gina Galligar	R	Huntley	57
Paula E. Yensen	D	Lake in the Hills	74
2023 Candidates- 2 yr.	Party	Hometown	Age
Andrew Fekete	R	Algonquin	42
Kevin P. Gentry (I)	D	Huntley	53
Michael G. Thompson	R	Huntley	55
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Tony Quagliano	R	Algonquin	62
Paul A. Troy	R	Lake in the Hills	54
Sean Cratty	R	Lake in the Hills	42
Woodstock CUSD 200
Current Split	4-3	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Jerry Theodore Miceli (I)	R	Woodstock	59
John Headley (I)	R	Woodstock	64
Michelle Bidwell (I)	D	Woodstock	41
Gina M. Willard	R	Woodstock	43
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Carl W. Gilmore	D	Woodstock	57
Bruce M. Farris	R	Woodstock	67
John D. Parisi	D	Woodstock	45
Jacob J. Homuth	D	Woodstock	34
Algonquin CUSD 300
Current Split	5-2	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	8
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Nancy Zettler (I)	D	Algonquin	64
Laura L. Parman	R	Sleepy Hollow	68
Connie Cain	R	Gilberts	61
Robert Reining	R	Lake-in-the-Hills	51
Stephen J. Fiorentino (I)	R	Algonquin	63
Olutola Makinde	D	Pingree Grove	54
Randi Gauthier	D	Pingree Grove	39
Kristina Konstanty	R	Gilberts	44
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
David Scarpino	R	Hampshire	69
Christine Birkett	D	West Dundee	49
Emmanuel Thomas	D	Algonquin	52
Members leaving board
Leslie LaMarca	D	Pingree Grove	53
Joseph R. Stevens	D	Pingree Grove	77
Crystal Lake CHSD 115
Current Split	4-3	REPUBLICAN
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates	Party	Hometown	Age
Stephanie O'Neill Macro	D	Lakewood	53
Amy Blazier (I)	D	Crystal Lake	63
Steve M. Kieffer	D	Crystal Lake	64
Kathy Goerges	R	Cary	55
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Jason Blake	R	Crystal Lake	52
Ronald P. Ludwig	R	Crystal Lake	59
Nicole Pavoris	R	Cary	52
Dave E. Secrest	D	Crystal Lake	78
Members leaving board
Adam J. Guss	D	Crystal Lake	51
Tom Vaclavek	R	Cary	48
Fox River Grove SD 3
Current Split	5-1-1	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	4
Candidates running	5
2023 Candidates- 4 yr	Party	Hometown	Age
Thomas Mollet (I)	D	Fox River Grove	60
Lisa Spiek	D	Fox River Grove	42
Alex Johnson (I)	D	Fox River Grove	34
Jonathan Meshes	D	Fox River Grove	42
Melissa M. Brennan (I)	NV	Fox River Grove	46
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Tracy L. Klein	D	Fox River Grove	45
David S. Gutierrez	D	Fox River Grove	43
Members leaving board
Katie Koll	D	Fox River Grove	35
Terrie Smialek	R	Fox River Grove	63
Prairie Grove SD 46
Current Split	3-2-2	DEMOCRAT
Seats up	3
Candidates running	4
2023 Candidates- 4 yr	Party	Hometown	Age
Josie Shattuck (I)	R	Oakwood Hills	33
Stephanie Housh (I)	D	Crystal Lake	42
Jennifer Rogulic	R	Crystal Lake	37
Thomas Dillon	R	Crystal Lake	54
2023 Candidates- 2 yr	Party	Hometown	Age
Gwen Bialek (I)	NV	Crystal Lake	44
Khushali Z. Shah (I)	D	Crystal Lake	49
vote for 2
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Steve Sebastian	NV	Crystal Lake	40
David Costa	R	Crystal Lake	45
Ryan M. Noonan	D	Crystal Lake	44
Crystal Lake SD 47
Current Split	5-2	REPUBLICAN
Seats up	5
Candidates running	9
2023 Candidates- 4 yr	Party	Hometown	Age
Emily R. Smith (I)	R	Lake in the Hills	39
Devon Hubbard Tessmer (I)	R	Crystal Lake	40
Kerri Johnson	NV	Crystal Lake	53
Lisa Messinger	D	Crystal Lake	52
PaTrice Dewey	D	Crystal Lake	41
Will Schroeder	NV	Crystal Lake	45
Laura LW Stanton	D	Crystal Lake	36
2023 Candidates- 2 yr	Party	Hometown	Age
Courtney Hand	R	Crystal Lake	41
Jonathan Norquist	R	Crystal Lake	34
vote for 1
Existing Board Members	Party	Hometown	Age
Debra Barton	D	Crystal Lake	58
Tim Mahaffy	D	Lakewood	57
Jonathan Powell	R	Lakewood	42
Members leaving board
Rob Fetzner	R	Crystal Lake	47
Ryan Farrell	R	Crystal Lake	44