Republican candidate John Acardo won a tight race against Democrat Jim Luebke for the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder position Tuesday night.

At about 8:30 p.m., election results began pouring in from 85 precincts for the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder position amongst others for those watching at O’Leary’s Irish Pub and Grill, 260 E. Lincoln Highway.

Acardo won with 16,376 votes which was 58.54 percent of the total votes. Luebke took 11,600 votes making up 41.46 percent of the votes.

The atmosphere of O’Leary’s, where Acardo held his watch party and subsequent victory party, was joyous after the results were tallied up.

“I was there at Fatty’s when John won the primary, so this is great,” said Daniel Sherrill, events coordinator at Borders.

A Sycamore resident, Acardo decided to run for DeKalb County Clerk after incumbent Sharon Holmes decided to retire after more than 20 years of service. Acardo’s main platform placed an emphasis on utilizing technology, by digitizing documents to provide transparency in the budget and financing of the city government.

“John is such a talented individual, and he has such a rich background in human resources and management,” said Julia Fullerton, newly elected Republican candidate for the DeKalb County Board District 8.

“He’s just an amazing candidate and I’m very glad that he won.”

After graduating from NIU with a degree in political science, Acardo began working for State Representative Bob Pritchard as the district office director in Sycamore. Acardo recently went on to get his Master’s Degree in business administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.

“I’ve stated throughout the entire campaign that this election comes down to experience and qualifications,” Acardo said. “The things that set my opponent apart from myself, is that I have had that experience working on the front lines of public service.” 

Acardo said that he has done everything he could possibly do for the past 21 months of campaigning, from going out to community events, to walking door-to-door, and to running a positive and clean campaign.

“I’m really proud of my nephew, because he ran a clean race and stayed focused on the issues and not on personalities,” said Sharon Boehlefeld, Acardo’s aunt.

By making fiscal responsibility and fiscal restraint his top priority, Acardo was able to draw in a majority of the voters. Acardo said he plans on utilizing the current budget and not resorting to asking taxpayers for more money.

“I feel humbled and honored to have the faith and support of the people of DeKalb County, and I’m ready to get my hands dirty,” Acardo said.