Keith Pekau Projected To Beat Dan McLaughlin: Orland Mayoral Race

ORLAND PARK, IL — With unofficial vote totals in, it looks as if Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau will defeat former mayor Dan McLaughlin to win re-election.

Patch.com is updating results throughout the night. Sign up for newsletters and breaking news updates and follow us on Facebook.

In December, former Mayor Dan McLaughlin officially announced he is running against incumbent Mayor Keith Pekau, in an effort to reclaim the mayoral seat he lost in 2017. In a sense, this "rematch" allowed voters to choose between McLaughlin — the former mayor who held the position for 24 years, prior to losing it to Pekau — or Pekau, who just served his first term.

With all 50 Orland precincts in on Tuesday night, Pekau was projected to capture nearly 52 percent of the vote to McLaughlin's 48 percent. Pekau score an additional 510 votes than McLaughlin.

Victory Insights

projected a close race, saying it was confident that the race would be decided by just single-digit percentage points. Learn more about Victory Insights' projections here

.

The People Over Politics Slate, backed by Pekau, is also projected to win the trustee race, beating the One Orland Party, backed by McLaughlin. But the win seems to be close, with just hundreds of votes between the board candidates.

However not all candidates seem to be pulling through on the Pekau backed slate. One Orland's Patrick R. O'Sullivan, who ran for village clerk, is ahead of Constantine ''Gus'' Lekas by just 300 votes. O'Sullivan is the only One Orland Party member projected to win.

Here is some background on the Village Board races:

Pekau — The incumbent has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. from Duke University, as a Fuqua Scholar. Pekau is a combat veteran and former Air Force Instructor Weapons System Officer. He has over 1,500 hours of flight time, including 45 combat sorties and 150 combat hours over southern Iraq. He is running with the People Over Politics slate. You can review his candidate profile here.

McLaughlin — The former mayor is a "Proud Brother Rice Crusader" and attended Moraine Valley Community College. He was the Executive Director of the Chicagoland AGC for eight years, Executive Director of the Plumbing Contractors Association for twenty-one years, Executive Director of the Plumbing Council of Chicagoland for five years. He is running with the One Orland Party and you can review his candidate profile here.

Village Board

Village Board candidates ran on slates that is either backed by Pekau or McLaughlin.

The People Over Politics slate includes:

• Constantine 'Gus' Lekas — People Over Politics Candidate: Constantine 'Gus' Lekas
• Sean Kampas — People Over Politics Candidate: Sean Kampas
• Brian Riordan — People Over Politics Candidate: Brian Riordan
• Joni Radaszewski — People Over Politics Candidate: Joni Radaszewski

The One Orland slate includes:

• Amy Burrell — One Orland Party Candidate: Amy Burrell
• Patrick O'Sullivan — One Orland Party Candidate: Patrick O'Sullivan
• Chris Kasmer — One Orland Party Candidate: Chris Kasmer
• Derek Rinaldi — One Orland Party Candidate: Derek Rinaldi

Current Trustees Daniel Calandriello, Kathleen Fenton and James Dodge are stepping down after the April election.

Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Orland Park Patch newsletters and real-time email alerts.