3 days Ago By Mike Nolan
Keith Pekau conceded defeat Tuesday evening in his bid for a third term as Orland Park mayor, with challenger Jim Dodge ahead with nearly all precincts reporting. Pekau thanked supporters gathered at Papa Joe’s restaurant, telling them “I got shellacked” but that “we ran a great campaign.” He said he texted congratulations to Dodge.
With 44 of 45 precincts reporting, Dodge had 57% of the vote to 43% for Pekau, unofficial results show. Turnout for the election was more than 33% of registered voters, according to the Cook County clerk’s office. “This victory is not just about the vote,” Dodge in a statement declaring victory.
“It’s about the people who have dedicated their time, energy, and hopes into making Orland Park a vibrant and welcoming place for all. I am deeply grateful for your trust and overwhelming support.” “This is the first day, or the onset, to a return to dignity where we will bring back respect, transparency, and civility to Orland Park,” Dodge said.
Pekau said that Orland Park residents “voted to go back to what they had before,” referring to McLaughlin. “I did what I could,” Pekau said. “We made it transparent.
Obviously, the people spoke.” Both Pekau and Dodge had fielded slates of trustee and clerk candidates, and other candidates who ran on Dodge’s Orland Park for All ticket were leading candidates backed by Pekau. Pekau, 58, was first elected mayor in 2017, defeating longtime Mayor Dan McLaughlin, who was seeking a seventh term at the time and who Pekau faced again in 2021.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, left, talks to supporters April 1, 2025, after conceding his race for a third term to former trustee Jim Dodge. (Mike Nolan/Daily Southtown) Dodge, 62, became village clerk in 1989 then was appointed trustee in 1996. He did not run for reelection as trustee in the April 2021 election.
The Dodge-headed Orland Park For All ticket also includes for clerk Mary Ryan Norwell, a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney and a municipal attorney for the last nine years. She had 58% of the vote compared with 42% for clerk candidate Brian Gaspardo on the Pekau-led People Over Politics ticket, according to unofficial results. Seeking trustee positions on Dodge’s ticket were John Lawler, Dina M.
Lawrence and Joanna M. Liotine Leafblad, with Lawler receiving 8,376 votes, 8,453 for Lawrence and 8,143 for Leafblad, according to unofficial results..
People Over Politics trustee candidate Sean Kampas had 5,981 votes and candidate Brian Riordan had 6,263 votes, according to unofficial results. Also seeking one of three trustee seats on the People Over Politics ticket was Carol McGury, who had 6,027 votes, according to unofficial totals. Kampas, Riordan and Joni Radaszewski, who is not seeking reelection, were elected in the April 2021, running with Pekau on the People Over Politics ticket.
“I will move on and I will be just fine,” Pekau told supporters. “I fought the fight.” During the campaign, Dodge said being better stewards of taxpayer money was a goal if elected, and he is critical of spending on a concert venue at Centennial Park West.
Pekau campaign on accomplishments during his first two terms, saying he and the Village Board have improved 32 neighborhood parks in the last five years and improved the condition of streets. He said the village went from having 40% of streets rated as in poor or very poor condition to the current level of 17%. Pekau was the Republican nominee in the 6th Congressional District in 2022, losing to Democrat Sean Casten.
Outside of the Orland Park Civic Center, a polling place on Tuesday, McLaughlin was handing out leaflets supporting Dodge and the Orland Park for All group as well as for his daughter, Bridget Lindbloom, running for a library board seat. While mayor, McLaughlin appointed Dodge to a trustee position on the Village Board. “I think Jim understands the village, he understands how the village works,” McLaughlin said.
He said that, several months ago, he and Dodge had talked, when Dodge was considering a challenge to Pekau and sought advice from the former mayor. Orland Park Mayoral candidate Jim Dodge celebrates with District 135 school board member Nicole Browner during the election night party at Blissful Banana restaurant in Orland Park on April 1, 2025. (James C.
Svehla/for the Daily Southtown) “I told him I thought he’d make a great candidate and that I would help him,” McLaughlin recalled of the conversation. Outside Orland Park’s Liberty School, voters Vince Cotter and his wife, Karen, were going in opposite directions — he voting for the incumbent and his wife backing the challenger. “I just see a lot of new business that has opened in town and I think he’s generally done a good job,” Vince Cotter said of Pekau.
“I don’t see any real need to shake things up.” His wife said she has not been happy about higher taxes imposed under Pekau’s watch, including a utility tax on gas and electric bills and a higher home-rule sales tax. “With prices for everything going up I think that we really need to take a look at how taxed we are,” Karen Cotter said.
A village tax on electric and natural gas bills that took effect last year was estimated to generate $3.5 million to $3.9 million annually, and the village estimated the average resident would see an increase of $12.
55 per month between gas and electric costs. An increase in Orland Park’s home-rule sales tax also took effect last year. It doesn’t apply to groceries or medicine, but increased the village’s overall sales tax rate, in Cook County, to 10.
25%. Through 2027, the village proposes issuing $60 million in bonds to finance projects such as improving streets, parks, and water and sewer infrastructure, but paying principal and interest on that new debt is expected to be covered by property taxes along with the utility tax and higher local sales tax. Coming out of Liberty School after voting, Diane Baker said she felt Pekau had “done a decent job” and had cast her ballot for him.
“I know that taxes are high for everybody, but we have a lot of things in Orland others (towns) don’t and we all know it costs money to pay for that,” she said. On the People Over Politics slate, Brian Gaspardo is village clerk and is managing partner of O’Neill & Gaspardo, Consultants and CPAs. Kampas has more than 25 years of experience in technology, business and strategy consulting, according to People Over Politics.
An attorney, Riordan is a shareholder and board member at the law firm Clausen Miller. McGury retired recently, after 36 years having served as an executive vice president for Smithbucklin, a business management consulting firm in Chicago. On the Orland Park for All ticket, clerk candidate Norwell is a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney and a municipal attorney for the last nine years.
Trustee candidate Lawler is a homebuilder while Lawrence holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Chicago and has a background as an evironmental engineer. Leafblad is president of the Orland Park Library Board and an assistant Cook County assistant state’s attorney, according to Orland Park For All..
