Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania’s Columns
  • Advertise
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Aaron Hanania
      • Steve Metsch
      • Steve Neuhaus
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
    • Submit a Press Release
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • “MIdnight Flight” Online Book
      • Midnight Flight Book Overview
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Seniors
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Two Guys on Politics Podcast: A Centrist View on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • The Arab street Podcast
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization Bill Lipinski
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens Baby Boomers
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards Cook County
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours Education
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book Books & Films
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards Features
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam  Baby Boomers
  • Orland Township Democratic Organization Fundraiser Feb. 23, 2023 at Papa Joe's Restaurant in Orland Park
    Orland Township Democratic Organization to honor Former Secretary of State Jesse White on Feb. 23 Cook County
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area Culture
  • Orland First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    First Responders announce candidacies for Orland Fire District Board seats Cook County
  • D230 students win prestigious art awards Education
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor Blogger
  • State Rep Fran Hurley 35th district
    Hurley Named Chair of Police and Fire Committee Cook County
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program Applications Business
  • Inappropriate Illinois license plates
    New Secretary of State reaffirms rejection of inappropriate license plates Chicago
Tammy Wendt, candidate for Cook County Board of Review 1st District, Nov. 3, 2020. Courtesy of Tammy Wendt

As mail-in votes are counted, Tammy Wendt surges to apparent victory over Dan Patlak in election upset

Posted on November 13, 2020November 17, 2020 By Ray Hanania No Comments on As mail-in votes are counted, Tammy Wendt surges to apparent victory over Dan Patlak in election upset
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

As mail-in votes are counted, Tammy Wendt surges to apparent victory over Dan Patlak in election upset

As mail-in ballots continue to be counted, the Cook County contest for Board of Review inn the First District race between Dan Patlak & Tammy Wendt flipped with Wendt now soundly leading by 3,695 votes. Patlak was declared the winner Wednesday morning my major media but ballot counting shows Wendt with a significant lead as mail-in ballot counting winds down

By Ray Hanania

Tammy Wendt, who was targeted by far leftwing extremists because of her representation of a Chicago Police Officer convicted of shooting a drug-using, knife-wielding African American teenager, has pulled ahead of incumbent Dan Patlack on Thursday after a surge of mail-in ballots were received.

Wendt, a lawyer and a Democrat, appears to have defeated Patlak in the November 3 General election for the office of the Cook County Board of Review in the First District.

Initially, the early vote count had Patlak leading and his “victory” was touted by many major news media who erroneously declared Patlak the winner.

Tammy Wendt, candidate for Cook County Board of Review 1st District, Nov. 3, 2020. Courtesy of Tammy Wendt
Tammy Wendt, candidate for Cook County Board of Review 1st District, Nov. 3, 2020. Courtesy of Tammy Wendt

At the time, the early voting showed Wendt trailing Patlak. Patlak had 276,600 votes, according to news media like the Arlington Heights Daily Herald which was touting Patlak, and Wendt only had 248,841 votes.

The Daily Herald and other news media called the election for Patlak on Wednesday with only 1,065 of 1,084 precincts reporting. But the remaining 19 precincts came in and the final count shows Wendt winning the election with a new more accurate count.

But that media mistake slowly turned as the counting continued more than 10 days after the election ended, and reflecting a hypocrisy among the news media which refused to immediately call the election in the Joe Biden and Donald Trump contest for President because of outstanding mail-in ballots.

On Friday, with all precincts reporting and mail-in ballots counted, Wendt leads Patlak by a vote of 358,845 in Cook County to 351,254. Wendt trailed Patlak in the Chicago precincts with Patlak receiving 17,704 votes to Wendt who received 13,808 votes.

In the end, with both Cook County and Chicago reporting, Patlak received 368,958 total votes compared to Wendt who received 372,653 votes. Wendt leads by a total of 3,695 total votes giving her the office and unseating Patlak.

“I am confident that tomorrow (Friday) will be the last day of counting ballots,” Wendt wrote on her Facebook Page.

“I will update you as soon as we know. Thank you so much to all of the voters, volunteers and supporters! You are appreciated more than you know.”

Wendt said the county and city continue to count mail-in ballots but the number of outstanding ballots has decreased significantly.

“Despite Patlak’s $800,000 campaign account and being outspent 20 to 1, so far I have won more votes than Patlak by running a people focused, grassroots campaign,” said Wendt in a release early Friday morning.

Wendt said her campaign focused on speaking “to thousands of voters” who told her “that they are tired of the high taxes of corruption that plagues Cook County.”

Wendt is a proud supporter of law enforcement community and was endorsed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7. She was also endorsed by International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

Tammy Wendt is an attorney with experience in real estate law and criminal defense. She is a former Cook County prosecutor and a former president of the Southwest Bar Association. She lives in Palos Heights with her son.

Dan Patlak was sworn in to a two-year term as a Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review on December 6, 2010. Patlak’s defeat of the incumbent commissioner was the first time a Republican defeated a sitting Cook County level Democrat in fifteen years. He was re-elected in 2012 and again in 2016.

The race received some attention from Arab American and Muslim voters after Wendt easily defeated David Orr protege Abdel Nasser Rashid in his second failed attempt to win office in the Democratic Primary election in March 2020. Rashid, who also lost to Sean Morrison in 2018, was surrounded by some extremists who flipped from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party to support Patlak in the General Election. They attacked Wendt and her supporters (including this columnists viciously) with inflammatory, negative rhetoric.

Today’s elections with mail-in ballots shows that you can no longer depend on the unofficial declarations by the news media of who has won or who has lost.

The final decision will be confirmed by the Illinois Election Board which is expected to issue a certified final election count on December 4.

But the surge in mail-in ballots shows that the early reports of a Patlak victory over Wendt were misleading. Wendt gained more than 10,000 votes to surge past Patlak and, giving Wendt a formidable 3,695 vote lead as the few remaining outstanding votes are counted.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City hall reporter. His mainstream columns appear every week on the Patch, weekly in the Southwest News Newspaper group, and his Middle East opinions appear weekly in the Arab News Newspaper. For information on Hanania and to read all of his columns, listen to his live radio shows or download his mainstream and Middle East podcasts, visit his website at www.Hanania.com.)

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens - February 3, 2023
  • District 230 students receive journalism awards - February 3, 2023
  • Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours - February 3, 2023
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Chicago, Cook County, elections, Government, News, Orland Park, Politics, Suburban Chicagoland, Taxes Tags:Board of Review, Cook County, Dan Patlak, election, First District, mail-in ballots, Patlak declared winner by news media, Tammy Wendt, Wendt surges past Patlak

Post navigation

Previous Post: Public Health Officials Announce 12,702 New Cases of Coronavirus Disease
Next Post: Tinley Park hosting Holiday House Decorating Contest

Related Posts

  • Chicago Sketch Comedy Logo
    Sketch Comedy Festival Jan. 10-19, 2019 Chicago
  • Illinois DCFS Doctor child checkup. Photo courtesy of DCFS
    DCFS launches program on domestic violence in Winnebago and Lake counties Health
  • Congresswoman Marie Newman, 3rd District Illinois
    Rep. Newman Secures $23,536,540 for Local Projects in Final Government Funding Package  News
  • National Night Out a success News
  • Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    New Cubs inspired musical “Miracle” rolls out weekly events and special offiers Comedy
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Approves Transportation Funding for Suburban Cook County Chicago

More Related Articles

Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States sworn in on Jan 20, 2021. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Right from the Middle: My disappointment in both Republicans and Democrats Bill Lipinski
Keith Pekau, former landscaper and accidental Orland Park Mayor. Photo from the Village of Orland Park Orland Park challenge to Pritzker restrictions stumbles Blogger
Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery, Lockport Illinois Illinois State Museum Wins Leader Institution of the Year Award Entertainment
American Flag. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania Quincy Veterans home reports increase in COVID-19 cases coronavirus
Orland Park Mayor disappointed in Trustees’ rejection of concert series plan Government
Dads' Rights Attorney Jeffery M. Leving. Specializing in Fathers' Rights, Family Law, Child custody, divorce proceedings Leving team reunites dad with sons after all contact cut off Cook County

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization
    February 3, 2023
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens
    February 3, 2023
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor
    January 26, 2023
  • Pritzker’s assault weapons ban not enough to make law abiding citizens safe
    January 16, 2023
  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go
    January 15, 2023
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Return semi-conductor and chip-making industries to America
    January 15, 2023

Subscribe

  • Ray-Hanania-Newsletter-300-wide-Banner.jpg

Trending

  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightf... Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has faile... posted on January 15, 2023
  • Paul Vallas candidate for Chicago Mayor 2023. Photo courtesy of the Paul Vallas website Vallas urges probe in Lig... Vallas urges probe in Lightfoot's CPD scandal and accuses of Congressman Ga... posted on January 16, 2023
  • Chicago Mayoral candidate Kam Buckner 2023 Black and Latinx Elected... Black and Latinx Elected Officials Unite Against the Chaos Caused by Mayor... posted on January 8, 2023
  • Alexi Giannoulias, former Illinois state treasurer and candidate for Illinois Secretary of State Secretary of State Alexi... Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias releases comprehensive Transition Team... posted on January 17, 2023
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar Cook County Announces Cal... Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program A... posted on January 23, 2023
  • NEWS
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards
    February 3, 2023
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam 
    February 3, 2023
  • Orland Township Democratic Organization Fundraiser Feb. 23, 2023 at Papa Joe's Restaurant in Orland Park
    Orland Township Democratic Organization to honor Former Secretary of State Jesse White on Feb. 23
    February 2, 2023
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

The Political Pundit

Political Pundit Aug. 24, 2021. Taliban thanks president for boxes of MAGA hats
  • WORD PRESS REVIEWS
  • MyCloud by Western Digital, a hard drive that doesn't last. Don't purchase Western Digital.
    Western Digital tubes its loyal customers for profit
    October 17, 2021
  • Macho Themes website front page. Don't buy their themes. They don't work
    Difficulties with Macho Themes for WordPress
    August 21, 2021
  • TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam 
    February 3, 2023
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Return semi-conductor and chip-making industries to America
    January 15, 2023

Follow Ray Hanania at
Gab.com, MeWe.com
IDobbinate.com,
Twitter, Facebook

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

What We’re Reading

Arab News Newspaper Leading English Language Publication in the GulfArab News Newspaper

Ray Hanania on Politics
SW News Newspaper Group

  • SPORTS
  • Chicago Wolves 2022-2023 season
    Chicago Wolves top Stars for second win in a row
    October 25, 2022
  • Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop! The team that does a lot of the work to help the Stagg High school band perform works behind the scenes like a NASCAR pit stop. The students are profiled in this feature
    Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop!
    August 31, 2022
  • Soccer. Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash
    International soccer returns to SeatGeek Stadium
    August 7, 2022
  • Stefan Noesen, Chicago Wolves
    Chicago Wolves Noesen wins President’s Award
    July 22, 2022
  • NEWS RELEASES
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area
    January 31, 2023
  • Orland First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    First Responders announce candidacies for Orland Fire District Board seats
    January 31, 2023
John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications

  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program Applications
    January 23, 2023
  • money $20 dollar bill, dollars, cash
    Buckner unveils plan to help businesses and strengthen job
    January 19, 2023
  • United Airlines Flight at O'Hare Airport
    United offers endless airline travel problems for travelers
    December 25, 2022
  • Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Demands continue for Lightfoot and Garcia to detail ties to FTX scandal
    December 15, 2022

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Click this link to watch or use the widget below:

Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.
Email Ray Hanania for more information about performing at your event at rghanania@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme