Republicans maintained a majority of 18 to eight on the Madison County Board after it was downsized by 10 percent last year.
There were 10 contested seats in addition to 13 Republicans and three Democrats running unopposed.
In District 2, Republican incumbent Stacey Pace received 2,741 votes, defeating Democrat Charles Metheny, who received 1,440 votes.
In District 8, Democrat incumbent Michael “Doc” Holliday Sr. defeated Republican Michael Velloff with 1,845 votes over his 1,086 votes.
In District 9, Democrat incumbent Bill Stoutenborough defeated Republican Bruce Egelhoff by only 15 votes. Soutenborough received 1,346 votes while Egelhoff received 1,331.
In District 16, Republican Robert Meyer flipped the seat by defeating Democrat incumbent Chris Hankins. Meyer received 1,581 votes while Hankins received 1,500.
In District 17, Democrat incumbent Victor Valentine Jr. won with 1,336 votes over Republican Shaun Arnold’s 1,035 votes.
In District 18, Democrat Alison Lamothe defeated Republican Eric Crony. Lamothe received 2,767 votes while Crony received 1,594 votes.
In District 19, Democrat incumbent Nick Petrillo won with 1,645 votes over Republican Donald Sawicki, who received 1,420 votes.
In District 21, Republican John Janek received 2,094 votes, defeating Democrat Emily Gavilsky, who received 1,378 votes.
In District 24, Republican Charles “Skip” Schmidt won the seat with 2,375 votes. Schmidt’s opponent, Democrat Erika Kohoutek, received 2,132 votes.
Lastly, in District 26, Republican Jason Palmero defeated Democrat Collin VanMeter with 2,078 votes over VanMeter’s 1,980 votes.
Thirteen Republicans ran unopposed: Fred Michael (District 1), William Meyer (District 3), Bobby Ross (District 4), Mick Madison (District 5), Valerie Doucleff (District 6), Michael Turner (District 7), Dalton Gray (District 11), Mike Babcock (District 14), Terry Eaker (District 15), Denise Wiehardt (District 20), Ryan Kneedler (District 22), W. Paul Nicolussi (District 23) and Chris Guy (District 25).
Three Democrats ran unopposed: Shawndell Williams (District 10), Robert Pollard (District 12) and Matthew King (District 13).
In November 2021, the County Board voted 23-1 to approve the newly drawn map, downsizing from 29 to 26 board members.
The map was proposed by Guy, who serves as the Government Relations Committee chairman.
Following the vote, Guy said that with the support of both Democrats and Republicans, “board members voted to reduce the County Board by three seats, which will save taxpayers 10 percent. The map approved is fair, and a big win for the taxpayers in Madison County.
He added that the map provides “substantially equal representation throughout the county.”
Petrillo, of Granite City, was the only one to cast a “no” vote.
Petrillo previously said he was voting against the 26-district map because he didn’t think it best served the residents of Granite City as the change will consolidate two county board seats into a single district.
By reducing the County Board by 10 percent, the new map plan would save taxpayers approximately $435,000 on salaries in the next 10 years.
County Board district lines are adjusted every 10 years to reflect population changes and to ensure equal representation of residents.
Guy began working on the 26-seat map in the spring with the help of other board members and county officials. The map approved by the County Board was his third proposed map. He previously proposed a 29-district map and a 27-district map.