Aiello, Fehrholz easily retain seats; Ayers defeats Fulgenzi in Sangamon County board race

Steven Spearie, State Journal-Register
·3 min read

Incumbents for Sangamon County treasurer and Regional Office of Education 51 superintendent won easily while Democrats picked up one seat on the Sangamon County Board in Tuesday's general election.

Republican Joe Aiello outdistanced Democrat challenger Daniel Pittman to win a second term for treasurer.

Shannon Fehrholz, a Republican appointed as regional school superintendent last year, held off Democrat Jonnell Baskett. The region covers Sangamon and Menard counties.

Democrat Marc Ayers defeated Linda Fulengzi in the 12th District race for county board. It was one of 10 contested races.

In all races, 100% of precincts were reporting.

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Shannon Fehrholz
Shannon Fehrholz

The county board is guaranteed three new faces that don't have incumbents. Democrat Sam Cahnman toppled incumbent Rose Ruzic in the only contested primary race on June 28. Cahnman did not have a Republican opponent Tuesday.

Republican Tracy Sheppard in District 6 and Democrat Gina Lathan in District 22 did not have opponents in either the primary or general elections.

Sam Snell of Auburn, who was appointed to the board in 2003, chose not to run again in District 6.

Joe Aiello
Joe Aiello

Democrat Anthony DelGiorno, who served in District 22, was re-districted into District 23.

Democrat Kevin McGuire goes from District 23 to District 28 with another Democrat, Matt Hartman, choosing not to run again in District 28.

Aiello, who served 22 years as Sangamon County clerk, won 65% of the vote to Pittman's 35% in the treasurer's race.

A political newcomer, Pittman grew up in Champaign before moving to Springfield and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. Pittman is a public service administrator for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Fehrholz claimed 60% of Tuesday's vote to 40% for Baskett.

Fehrholz was elevated to the role of superintendent in October 2021 following the retirement of Jeff Vose, who had served in the role for 11 years. She had been an assistant superintendent under Vose during that same period.

Baskett has been working in Champaign school district for the past four years as the director of pre-K-5 teaching and learning. In District 186, Baskett served director of gifted programs and as an assistant principal at Lanphier High School and principal at Southern View Elementary.

Sangamon County board

All seats were up for election because of the decennial 2020 Census. After that, terms will be staggered from two to four years.

Republicans hold a 21-8 margin on the board.

  • District 10, incumbent Paul Truax (R) defeated Chrisandra Brown (D), 62% to 38%;

  • District 12, Marc Ayers (D) defeated incumbent Linda Fulgenzi (R), 55% to 45%;

  • District 13, incumbent Brad Miller (R) defeated Mikaleh Curry (D), 65% to 35%;

  • District 17, incumbent Annette Fulgenzi (R) defeated Aaron Tebrinke (D), 65% to 35%;

  • District 19, incumbent Vera Small (D) defeated Alice Ramey (R), 71% to 29%;

  • District 24, incumbent Andy Van Meter (R) defeated Maureen Duffy Bommarito (D), 56% to 44%;

  • District 25, incumbent George Preckwinkle (R) defeated Krishna Brahmamdam (D), 56% to 44%;

  • District 26, incumbent John O'Neill (R) defeated Rusty Jones (D), 59% to 41%;

  • District 27, incumbent Abe Forsyth (R) defeated Jon Hackler (D), 55% to 45%;

  • District 29, incumbent Cathy Scaife (R) defeated Kathy Johnson (D), 60% to 40%.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IL election 2022: Sangamon County treasurer, board, superintendent