Prim to be next Sheriff

The results in the McHenry County Sheriff's race have been pretty constant at 60/40 from the first count. At the 9:50PM posting of 93.87% of the vote, Prim maintains his 60% to Harrison's 40%, and he'll come out in the Number 1 position at the finish line.

Total votes counted at 9:50PM are 60,760 and represent 93.87% of the districts reporting. An estimated 64,700 votes will be cast so, even if Harrison got 100% of the remaining votes, it won't be enough to top Prim.

At the 9:50PM mark, Prim had 36,909 votes and Harrison had 23,851 votes.

It was a hard-fought contest.

Some are going to say the "best man" won, but McHenry County voters and residents won't know whether the "best man" won until well into the four-year term, which begins December 1.

If Prim keeps his campaign promise to eliminate the office of the Undersheriff, to what rank with Zinke revert? Will Zinke ever stay around? And what about the rumor that Mayor Sager wanted to bring Zinke on board as the Woodstock Chief of Police? And will Prim get rid of the "Commanders" and just have Lieutenants and Captains running things?

Watch for new hires and for lateral hires. Rumor has it that a number of law-enforcement officers from other jurisdictions are chomping at the bit to join MCSD.

If Prim falls for the "lateral-hire" gimmick, new deputies will come on board at high pay grades and may reduce or eliminate promotion opportunities for deputies who have devoted their careers to moving up through the ranks.

And new people will then come in with all their bad habits and have to be re-trained to the way things are done in McHenry County. Oh, wait; then maybe they won't have to change all that much, after all.