Keith Pekau conceded defeat Tuesday evening in his bid for a third term as Orland Park mayor, with challenger Jim Dodge ahead with all 45 precincts reporting.

Pekau thanked supporters gathered at Papa Joe’s restaurant, telling them “I got shellacked” but that “we ran a great campaign.” He said he texted congratulations to Dodge.

Unoffficial results show Dodge had 57% of the vote to 43% for Pekau.

Turnout for the election was more than 34% of registered voters, according to the Cook County clerk’s office.

“This victory is not just about the vote,” Dodge in a statement declaring victory. “It’s about the people who have dedicated their time, energy, and hopes into making Orland Park a vibrant and welcoming place for all. I am deeply grateful for your trust and overwhelming support.”

“This is the first day, or the onset, to a return to dignity where we will bring back respect, transparency, and civility to Orland Park,” Dodge said.

Both Pekau and Dodge had fielded slates of trustee and clerk candidates, and other candidates who ran on Dodge’s Orland Park for All ticket were leading candidates backed by Pekau.

Dodge, 62, became village clerk in 1989 then was appointed trustee in 1996. He did not run for reelection as trustee in the April 2021 election.

The Dodge-headed Orland Park For All ticket also includes for clerk Mary Ryan Norwell, a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney and a municipal attorney for the last nine years.

She had 58% of the vote compared with 42% for clerk candidate Brian Gaspardo on the Pekau-led People Over Politics ticket, according to unofficial results.

Seeking trustee positions on Dodge’s ticket were John Lawler, Dina M. Lawrence and Joanna M. Liotine Leafblad, with Lawler receiving 8,514 votes, 8,594 for Lawrence and 8,279 for Leafblad.

People Over Politics trustee candidate Sean Kampas had 6,127 votes and candidate Brian Riordan had 6,426 votes, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.

Also seeking one of three trustee seats on the People Over Politics ticket was Carol McGury, who had 6,182 votes, according to unofficial totals.

“I will move on and I will be just fine,” Pekau told supporters. “I fought the fight.”

During the campaign, Dodge said being better stewards of taxpayer money was a goal if elected, and he is critical of spending on a concert venue at Centennial Park West.

Pekau was the Republican nominee in the 6th Congressional District in 2022, losing to Democrat Sean Casten.

Outside of the Orland Park Civic Center, a polling place on Tuesday, former Mayor Dan McLaughlin was handing out leaflets supporting Dodge and the Orland Park for All group as well as for his daughter, Bridget Lindbloom, running for a library board seat.

Unofficial results showed her as the second-highest vote-getter, with 6,531, in a field of four candidates vying for two six-year terms on the Orland Park Library Board.

Outside Orland Park’s Liberty School, voters Vince Cotter and his wife, Karen, were going in opposite directions — he voting for the incumbent and his wife backing the challenger.

“I just see a lot of new business that has opened in town and I think he’s generally done a good job,” Vince Cotter said of Pekau. “I don’t see any real need to shake things up.”

His wife said she has not been happy about higher taxes imposed under Pekau’s watch, including a utility tax on gas and electric bills and a higher home-rule sales tax.

“With prices for everything going up I think that we really need to take a look at how taxed we are,” Karen Cotter said.

A village tax on electric and natural gas bills that took effect last year was estimated to generate $3.5 million to $3.9 million annually, and the village estimated the average resident would see an increase of $12.55 per month between gas and electric costs.

An increase in Orland Park’s home-rule sales tax also took effect last year. It doesn’t apply to groceries or medicine, but increased the village’s overall sales tax rate, in Cook County, to 10.25%.

Coming out of Liberty School after voting, Diane Baker said she felt Pekau had “done a decent job” and had cast her ballot for him.

“I know that taxes are high for everybody, but we have a lot of things in Orland others (towns) don’t and we all know it costs money to pay for that,” she said.

On the Orland Park for All ticket, clerk candidate Norwell is a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney and a municipal attorney for the last nine years.

Trustee candidate Lawler is a homebuilder while Lawrence holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Chicago and has a background as an evironmental engineer. Leafblad is president of the Orland Park Library Board and an assistant Cook County assistant state’s attorney, according to Orland Park For All.

Orland Township

For Orland Township seats, unofficial vote totals showed Supervisor Paul O’Grady ahead of two challengers.

With all 62 precincts reporting, he had 8,128 compared with 6,790 for Republican candidate Deborah Kirby-Poczatko and 5,701 for Richard Kelly, supervisor candidate for the Orland Township United party.

O’Grady headed the Orland Township Together ticket, which saw candidates for positions such as township clerk, trustee and highway commissioner trailing Republican candidates and those fielded by the United party.

For clerk, Republican candidate Shannon Olson had 7,939 compared with Orland Township United candidate Cindy Murray’s 7,000 votes and 6,332 for Together candidate Reem Odeh, according to unofficial results.

Republican William Brennan, seeking the highway commissioner position, had 8,002 votes while United candidate Tracy Maureen Sullivan had 6,999, unofficial results show.

In the race for four township trustee positions, Republican candidates were among the top vote-getters in a field of a dozen candidates.

Orland Township United candidate Lena Matariyeh was leading the field with 8,003, with Republican candidates Kenneth Duffy garnering 7,985, Frank Williams with 7,522 and Kenneth Soltis with 7,492. Fellow Republican Matthew Keane Jr. had 7,353.

United candidate Michael Schofield had 7,116 votes, while running mates Daniel Flores had 6,306 and Kelly Erin Metzger had 4,955, according to unofficial results.

Orland Township Together candidate Kristin Hawksworth had 5,154 while running mates Marie Fuesel had 5,128 votes, Michael Maratea had 4,918 and Patrick Feldner had 4,697, according to unofficial results.

In the Orland Fire Protection District, six candidates, all running nonpartisan, were running for two six-year terms on the board.

Unofficial vote totals showed Beth Damas Kaspar with 5,727 and Donald “DJ” Jeffers with 4,908 as the two top vote-getters.

Mark Mitchell had 4,405 votes, Danielle Eileen Dorsey with 4,345, Christian Barcelona with 3,737 and Paris Stirrat with 3,317, according to unofficial results.

There were three candidates, also running nonpartisan, for one two-year term on the fire board.

Bridget Eileen Tolan had 5,887 votes, compared with 4,361 for Steven Troglio and 3,222 for Jennifer “Jen” May, according to unofficial results.