Though the race isn't officially over, it looks like Lauren Turelli will probably win the Republican primary for 58th District State Representative.

With all of the precincts in Lake and Cook counties reporting, Turelli leads Dr. Mark Neerhof by 558 votes out of 8,954. She leads Neerhof in both counties, with 238 votes to his 222 in Cook County and 4,518 to his 3,976 in Lake.

The winner will face Democrat Scott Drury in the general election. Drury was endorsed by State Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park), who announced she wouldn't seek reelection to the post last year.

"We're not out of it," Neerhof's campaign manager Mick Paskiewicz told Patch Tuesday night. He said the campaign would wait for early and absentee votes to be counted before Neerhof would concede the race.

Neerhof, a 53-year-old Lake Forest resident and obstetrician, told a group of supporters at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest that a win was "unlikely."

"These results are not what we hoped," Neerhof said.

An 'impressive victory'

Turelli, 40, was expected to spend election night at the Graffiti Grill in Lake Bluff, but did not attend because she was at a special meeting for the Lake Forest Park Board that went late. The Lake Forest resident is a member of the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board.

Though neither Turelli nor her campaign manager Mark Shaw returned Patch's calls, Shaw sent a lengthy text message to Patch at around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

"I have no comment for the Highland Park Patch on Mrs. Turelli's impressive victory against an unprecedented negative and defamatory campaign against her by her opponent and your propaganda pamphlet," the text read.

The "propaganda pamphlet" Shaw refers to is presumably an article Patch ran in February that explained how Turelli fabricated a degree from the University of Cambridge on her Facebook, LinkedIn and campaign literature.

Neerhof told Patch he would support Turelli's candidacy in the general election if she wins the primary.

"I think a vote for a Democrat is a vote for (Illinois Speaker of the House) Michael Madigan," Neerhof said. 

Neerhof added he was disappointed in the low voter turnout this year. There were 19,000 early votes cast four years ago and only 11,000 cast this year, according to Lake County Clerk Willard Helander.

"I don't think people understand the severity of what we face as a nation," Neerhof said.

Some of Neerhof's supporters said they would throw their support behind Turelli if she wins the primary as well.

"I will support a Republican candidate regardless of who they are," said Lake Forest resident Dr. Richard Janson. He agreed with Neerhof that getting rid of Madigan was a priority.

"No Republican bill will ever get heard so long as he is Speaker," Janson said.

Schneider, Morrison win

In other election news, Brad Schneider won the Democratic primary to become the candidate who will run against Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) to represent the 10th District in November.

“I knew we could do something special,” Schneider told supporters Tuesday night. “We did this with character integrity and class.”

Julie Morrison won the 29th District Democratic State Senate primary against Milton Sumption.

"There's no time for a learning curve," Morrison, who was endorsed by state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), told supporters Tuesday. "I'm going to go to Springfield and be a leader for you." 

Arie Friedman, Morrison's opponent in the general election, said the decision in November would be "an incredibly clear choice" for voters. The Highland Park pediatrician and former Naval pilot Arie Friedman ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

A small crowd stood outside of Graffiti Grill late Tuesday night, celebrating a win for Keith Brin, who won the Republican primary race for Lake County Circuit Court Clerk. He commended the Lake County Clerk Office for a smooth day of voting and the speedy delivery of polling results.

"We had all our results by 8:30 p.m.," Brin said. "It was really remarkable."

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