If the Orland Park village elections had been one-on-one, the incumbents would have lost

There's no doubt that the incumbent trustees in Orland Park would have been thrown out of office if the race did not include so many candidates.

We know the majority of voters in Orland Park voted against the incumbents, Ed Schussler, Pat Gira and newcomer Carole Ruzich. (Read the story.)

But compare the results in the Orland Fire Protection Distirct and the Orland Park Village elections, and you can see a fascinating pattern.


Orland Trustee FPD - 6yr., 
61 of 61 Precincts Reported, Vote For 2 % Votes

Christopher G. Evoy .............28.25% ..........................3,474

Blair Rhode ..........................27.15% ..........................3,339
Salvatore ''Bob'' Cacciato .....19.04% ..........................2,341

Patrick Maher .......................14.72% ..........................1,810

Janice Brooks .......................10.84% ..........................1,333

Orland Park Village Trustee
58 of 58 Precincts Reported, Vote For 3 % Votes

Patricia A. Gira (Orland Park United) .........................13.75% ............2,597
Edward G. Schussler (Orland Park United) .................14.36% ............2,711
Carole Griffin Ruzich (Orland Park United) ..................12.2% .............2,304

Molly McAvoy Flynn (Fiscal Voices for Orland) ..........11.09% ...........2,095

John M. Brudnak (Fiscal Voices for Orland) ................10.96% ...........2,070

John S. Fotopoulos (Independent) ...............................10.39% ...........1,962

Tom Cunningham (Independent) ..................................10.05% ...........1,898
Steven Williams (Fiscal Voices for Orland) .....................9.5% .............1,794
Rich Kelly (Independent) ................................................7.7% ............1,454

As one reader pointed out, Pat Maher, the president of the Orland Fire Protection District who dropped out of the race, received a higher voter percentage than the Village of Orland Park incumbents, Schussler, Gira and newcomer Ruzich.

Take out three of the village candidates and add the majority of their votes to the results of the challengers, and the votes would have reflected the huge protest in the Orland Fire Protection District.

It's all math, and issues folks.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com