Grafton Township Board turns blue as voters also deliver change to Huntley District 158 school board

For the first time in recent memory, the Grafton Township board is slated to be run by Democrats.

And many of those same voters also appear to have helped boost Huntley Community School District 158 candidates who were backed by the teachers union and a grassroots group seeking a new direction for that board.

On the school board, incumbents Paul Troy and Sean Cratty appear headed for another four-year term on the school board, while challengers Melissa Maiorino and Rich Bobby also appear to have been victorious, though results remain unofficial.

The four, in addition to Andrew Fekete, running for the two-year seat, received support from the grassroots Candidates for All Kids group as well as the endorsement from the Huntley Education Association. Fekete is leading incumbent Dana Wiley, who was appointed to the seat in 2023.

Maiorino previously was on the board but lost reelection in 2023, when a more conservative slate who had opposed COVID-19 restrictions took control of the board.

It was a disappointing night for the Grafton Township Republican Party. All but one of Republican appears to have lost on the township board, and all the candidates the party backed for school board – Wiley, Corine Burns and Andrew Martin – are trailing. Cassie Khurana and Jim Hollich also ran for four-year seats.

For school board, Maiorino, Troy, Cratty and Bobby are leading.

Over the past two years, the board has waded through a number of issues including whether to accept a library grant related to Illinois’ anti-book ban law. And despite some on the slate elected two years ago campaigning for lower taxes, the board has opted for tax levy increases.

In this campaign cycle, the candidates addressed DEI and other social issues as well as taxes.

Tuesday’s results signal a potential shift in the trajectory of the board; some on the grassroots group had indicated they were disenchanted with the school board and some said they wanted to support candidates who they believed wouldn’t ban LGBTQ clubs in the district.

Fekete said he was “thrilled” with the results and plans to get acclimated to the board and learn about and understand its “inner workings.” He said the leading candidates had gotten a congratulatory message from the district Wednesday morning.

Bobby said he was very excited about the opportunity and was looking forward to being of service to the community. His priorities for the board include strengthening special education, including creating a pathways program for students with disabilities similar to the district’s engineering and medical pathways; having supports and resources in place for educators of students with behavioral needs; and putting each tax dollar to its “best and highest use.”

Cratty ran for both school and township boards and was on pace to win both elections. He’s the only Republican who appears to have won a seat on the township board, with the Democratic slate of Diane Oltman Ayers, Corinna Sac and Chris Lawrence on track to be the top vote-getters. Incumbent Republicans Tamara L. Lueth, Dan Ziller, Jr. and Matthew Cooper all appears to have lost their seats.

Ayers, who has lived in the Grafton Township area since 1995, said each of the candidates on the slate had their own reason for running. She said there wasn’t a strategy to sweep townships. Now that she’s set to be on the board, Ayers wants to review make sure the township is putting its resources to the best use. She said she didn’t think that was a partisan thing.

Grafton Township GOP Chairman Orville Brettman said some of the Republican didn’t work as hard as they could have this time around.

He said the GOP knocked on thousands of doors during the 2023 election and campaigned “day and night.” He said those efforts didn’t happen this cycle.

After Wiley’s appointment to the 158 board, Brettman and the GOP had asked the school district to take up a ban on any “gender modification” care in the schools.

Brettman said in a news release at the time that the township GOP central committee had unanimously passed a resolution to request the school district policy change because "the time is long past when God fearing Americans can stand idly by while evil servants of perverted philosophies foster their abominable practices upon our unsuspecting youth."

The board ultimately declined to make any policy change, in part because there were already policies in place requiring parental consent on all matters related to student health.

Brettman said Wednesday he believes Democrats have been “energized” by their anger over the outcome of the presidential election, adding the GOP is going to have to up its game. He said he hadn’t talked to anybody about the results yet, so he could only speak for himself and not the party.

Despite the shift to blue on the Grafton Township board, McHenry County remains red overall, though deeply divided, with President Donald Trump performing better in 2024 than he did four years before, winning 52% of the vote in November and just under 50% in 2020. The McHenry County Board also expanded its Republican majority in November.

This cycle, in most of the county’s townships, no Democrats ran for office, nor did the party run anyone for Grafton Township supervisor or other offices, which remain Republican-held.

Christine Hamm, one of the members of for All Kids, said the group was pleased with the outcome.

“We are thrilled with the results of the election. ... This outcome reflects our shared commitment to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and supportive educational environment for all students. The success of this election is a testament to the incredible power of a community coming together for a common cause. In a short period of time (a little more than 3 weeks!), we accomplished something truly remarkable—mobilizing neighbors, friends, and families around a vision for stronger schools and brighter futures for our children," Hamm said in part in an email.