Gieseke’s Grass Roots Campaign Big Winner
St. Charles Councilman John Gieseke was the big winner in the mayoral primary election held Tuesday.
Out of 43130 registered voters in the City of St. Charles, 7219 cast ballots or 16.74 percent. This is a higher amount than the 10 percent predicted by the election authority.
Gieseke received 2747 votes or 38.85 percent of the votes cast. Mayor Patti York came in second with 2254 votes or 31.88 percent. The loser was former Mayor Grace Nichols with 2070 votes or 29.27 percent.
Gieseke ran a grass roots campaign and was out spent by the other two candidates by almost two to one. “I am very proud and thankful for the residents of St. Charles who worked very hard to help me in this election,” Gieseke told the First Capitol News. “I have pledged to return the city government to the people and will continue to work towards that goal.
The two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the primary, Gieseke and York, will face each other in the general election on April 3rd. The winner will then be the full time Mayor.
At the City Council meeting Tuesday evening the Council approved a salary of $60,000 for the Mayor an increase from $24,000.
