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Claar holds slim lead in Bolingbrook despite being “Trumped”

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Illinois

Longtime Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar could be returning for another term. As of last night, the incumbent held a narrow lead over challenger Jackie Traynere with all 32 precincts reporting. Claar has been the mayor of the village for over 30 years. He stirred up controversy last year after hosting a September fundraising event for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

His opponent, Jackie Traynere, currently a Will County board member, received endorsements from Illinois’s U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and congressman Bill Foster. But unofficial results show Claar leading Traynere by just 103 votes. Provisional and mail in ballots will be counted in 2 weeks.

* AP…

Traynere spokesman Tom Bowen acknowledged because of the number of outstanding votes, Traynere is facing an “uphill battle.” […]

Claar hosted a fundraiser for Trump in September, which angered some voters in the suburb of about 75,000 people. As a result, support for Traynere poured in from top Democrats nationwide, including from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and a group spun out of Sanders’ campaign. […]

[Claar] has previously dismissed the situation in Bolingbrook, saying Democrats are “trying to take over” and partisan politics shouldn’t be a factor in the race. His tenure has seen major development and growth in Bolingbrook.

The municipal contest is technically nonpartisan. But concerns raised in the presidential campaign and initial months of Trump’s tenure have hit home in the racially-diverse community with two mosques and where at least 20 percent of the community is foreign born.

* Patch…

It looked like every member of Claar’s Bolingbrook First slate would hold onto their seats except for trustee Sheldon Watts, a recent appointee on the board.

* NY Times…

The race was seen as offering a glimpse into Mr. Trump’s early effect on elections in 2017. Mr. Claar, 71, the village’s mayor for 31 years, was running unchallenged for his ninth term last fall when he co-hosted a fund-raiser at the Bolingbrook Golf Club for Mr. Trump, who was then the Republican presidential nominee.

But it quickly escalated into a political issue for Mr. Claar: More than 100 people protested the fund-raiser, saying that Mr. Trump did not share the values of their diverse, Democratic-leaning village of about 74,000. One of the protesters, Ms. Traynere, 54, decided to challenge Mr. Claar in the mayor’s race — and quickly made Mr. Claar’s association with Mr. Trump one of her main lines of attack.

A lineup of powerful Democrats in Illinois, including both United States senators, campaigned for Ms. Traynere. Soon Mr. Claar, who usually runs unopposed, found his job on the line.

There were other issues at stake in Bolingbrook — Ms. Traynere said Mr. Claar had driven the village into debt, and Mr. Claar said she was unqualified for the job. Before Election Day, it was unclear whether Bolingbrook residents would vote on their feelings for Mr. Trump, or whether they would focus on more local concerns instead. Early voting was brisk, indicating that residents were fired up about the race.

* And the Tribune, which for whatever reason didn’t cover this race until it was over…

Traynere said she called Claar and congratulated him on a good race, but she did not concede.

She pointed to Claar’s thin lead as an indicator that people in Bolingbrook want change.

“I don’t think this town wants him,” she said, adding that if Claar had done such wonderful things for Bolingbrook his lead would be larger.

“David really hurt Goliath,” she said, noting Claar had the benefit of a larger campaign fund.

If he won, the town wants him. And if he outspent her, that’s on her and all the folks who backed her.

Claar apparently did very well with vote by mail, which may be why the Traynere people aren’t predicting victory. He mailed to a wide swath of registered voters and then constantly followed up. Bolingbrook is a nice place to live if you like the suburban experience, so running on that and against the natural fear of change (particularly tax hikes) was a pretty solid formula and helped bring people to the polls who may have otherwise not voted. And it appears to have worked.

Also, I’m told Congressman Dan Lipinksi dispatched a few of his precinct workers to Bolingbrook to help Claar. Some of the same folks who backed Traynere are also coming after him in the Democratic primary.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:23 am

Comments

Big loss for Foster, Durbin, bunch of Dem Gov candidates…

Comment by so... Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:31 am
Say what you want about Roger, but he’s an old-time pol. He’s at all the Bolingbrook High School football and basketball games, shaking hands, etc.

Lipinski sending help to Claar is funny.

Comment by Will County Tory Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:33 am
Tough to oust a 31 yr incumbent mayor.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:35 am
I thought he might lose as he was in so long. But makes me happy Durbin and Duckworth could pull him through/s

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:38 am
You gotta wonder if flooding a town with outsider campaign workers and nationalizing the race created a little bit of a backlash, particularly in a municipal election, when voters might be even more parochial than usual.

I suppose (based on that Lipinski item) both sides did it, so maybe it was a wash. But it seems a lot more outsiders came to town to help Traynere.

Comment by Roman Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:38 am
Once the publicly available voter rolls are updated, we’ll know who voted for sure, but this was about more than just Democrats versus Trump supporters. Debt, taxes, garbage collection all played a big role. Too bad for Jackie though, she really hustled her butt off and always has

Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:40 am
===“I don’t think this town wants him,”===

Obviously him more than you, though. People need more than, “this guy supported Trump” to really come out against him. He was well organized and campaigned on things specific to Bolingbrook.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:43 am
Seems good news for Dan L, too. I bet the help will be reciprocated.

Comment by Fav Hum Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 10:53 am
Suburban voters are concerned about their property taxes and how the mayor spends those dollars. Look at Orland Park, where a long-serving and once popular mayor got beat for engineering a $100,000 raise for himself and a big pension bump. That’s gonna motivate voters a lot more than the mayor’s presidential preference.

Comment by Telly Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 11:05 am
Now let someone come forward and challenge Dr Foster for getting involved in what is supposed to be non-partisan municipal elections.

Comment by Independent Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 11:43 am
Throwing out one of the best mayors in the state over a fundraiser litmus test for a sanders activist was bad idea. Good on the Bolingbrook voters for holding this national garbage out of local races and keeping it local. I had dinner there recently and its a very dynamic and diverse town.

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 2:47 pm
Makes you wonder how much of the far left progressive “movement” translates online vs in the polling place…

Comment by Shytown Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 3:43 pm
Somebody once that if you are going to shoot the bear, you better kill it!

Comment by Old Timer Wednesday, Apr 5, 17 @ 4:38 pm
I live in Bolingbrook and was totally caught off guard at how close this was. Most of my neighbors assumed Roger was going to win easy. He’s very approachable and you see him everywhere. I have never even seen traynere around here.

Comment by From Bolingbrook Thursday, Apr 6, 17 @ 8:35 pm