Republican grabs final nomination in Grafton Township by 4 votes as primary election results finalized

Grafton Township Republican voters chose a slate of incumbent township board members in last month’s primary but, after election night, incumbent Sean Cratty was just one vote ahead of challenger Michael Danielson.

Final vote totals released Tuesday show Cratty finishing with 211 votes to win the fourth seat on the board by four votes over Danielson, according to McHenry County Clerk’s Office records.

Incumbent Tamara L. Lueth was the highest vote-getter, with 258 votes. Next were incumbents Dan Ziller Jr. and Matthew Cooper who, with 245 and 224 votes, respectively, retained their seats.

Challenger Scott Allegretti finished last with 188 votes.

The incumbents face Democratic slate Chris Lawrence, Diane Oltman Ayers and Corinna Sac in the April 1 general election. Early voting for that election begins Monday.

Cratty is also on the ballot April 1 for the Huntley Community School District 158 board, where he is also an incumbent and among eight people vying for four seats.

In the Feb. 25 primary in Nunda Township, McHenry County Board member Mike “Shorty” Shorten defeated incumbent supervisor Leda Drain by over 20 percentage points, about the same as the margin on election night.

In Algonquin Township, challenger Richard Tado defeated incumbent Supervisor Randy Funk by a similar margin. Tado’s slate of Millie Medendorp for clerk, Danijela Sandberg for highway commissioner and trustee candidates Teresa Sharpe-Decker, Theresa Fronczak, Eduardo Aviles and Robert Becker all won. No Democratic or Independent candidates filed for the seats, so they are the de facto winners.

The election was marked by low turnout, with about 3.1% of the voters in the three townships casting a ballot.