Kendall County Board District 2 incumbents Koukol, Bachmann lead unofficial results

Kendall County Board District 2 incumbents Dan Koukol and Zach Bachmann are in good shape for reelection, according to unofficial results from the Nov. 5 election.

Four candidates were running for the two seats open in District 2. Koukol, a Republican who has been on the board since December 2020, was the top vote-getter, receiving 14,209 votes.

He was followed by Bachmann, a Democrat, with 13,441 votes. Bachmann has been on the board since 2022.

Democrat Savena Joiner received 12,434 votes. Republican Diane Selmer, who has been an Oswego Township trustee for two terms, finished fourth with 10,889 votes.

Koukol said he has always tried to make himself accessible to residents since being elected to the Kendall County Board. He also tries to help them if they have a particular issue.

“People call me with their issues,” he said. “I think a lot of it is just being involved in the community and being out there.”

He also talked about the importance of controlling property taxes.

“I’ve never voted for a tax increase and I don’t agree with raising levies at times at times when taxes are so tough,” Koukol said.

Bachmann said he tried to run a solid campaign.

“I knocked on thousands of doors, did tons of phone calls and we had a texting campaign,” he said. “I learned a lot from my first time running for office. And I also think that voters liked the message I was running on, improving your infrastructure, working to improve your quality of life and delivering wins for you and your family.”

Improving broadband access for residents has been a goal of Bachmann’s. More than 1,900 homes in Kendall County are considered unserved or underserved with internet access, according to county officials. Bachmann is chairman of Connect Kendall County Commission, which has been working to improve internet access.

The county has received a $15 million grant from the Illinois Office of Broadband. Created in September 2019, the Office of Broadband is housed within the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

With the grant award, the county plans to develop a public-private partnership that will result in more than $40 million in investment in a community-owned broadband network. The project is expected to kick off this fall.