Fritts in, Tofte out for Lee County Board: Newcomer wants to reduce size of board
DIXON – One newcomer is in, while one longtime Lee County Board member is out after Tuesday’s primaries.
Political newcomer Ed Fritts emerged from a crowded Republican field for the board’s District 3 seats with the most votes of any candidate, 503.
Art Tofte, 87, was the only one of three incumbents on the ballot to fall short. Board members Mike Farster (425 votes) and Robert Stevens (411 votes) were re-elected, as the Democratic Party has no candidates.
Another ballot newcomer, David Blaine, did not receive enough votes to earn a party nomination.
Neither Fritts nor Tofte could be reached for comment.
Fritts, 58, of Dixon, will start after the November election. His No. 1 issue: reducing the size of the board.
Board redistricting is tied to U.S. Census results, and next year will be the first time in 10 years the board can legally redraw district boundaries and decrease the number of board members.
The Lee County Board has 28 members – second most in Illinois to Sangamon County’s 29 – and Board Chairman James Seeberg has said he supports a review of the board size and districts.
District 3 was the county’s only contested board race.
The District 1 race will have 4 contestants for the 3 open spots in the Nov. 2 general election. Republicans Rick Ketchum and Larry Eisenberg, and Democrats David Guisse and Ann Taylor were uncontested in Tuesday’s primaries. All but Guisse are incumbents.
In District 2, four Republicans – incumbents James Seeberg, Gerald Leffelman and Dick Binder, and newcomer Lisa Zeimetz – were uncontested for the 4 seats. No Democrats were on Tuesday’s ballot.
