
Incumbent Benny White, Park Board President Mary Gibson appear to take early lead in Naperville council race
With initial results trickling in, Benny White, Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer and Ashfaq Syed appear to have an early lead in the eight-way race for the four, four-year Naperville City Council seats up for election.
Unofficial results released as of just after 8:20 p.m. Tuesday night show White with 6,772 votes across Naperville precincts in DuPage and Will counties, followed by Gibson with 6,187 votes, Holzhauer with 6,109 votes and Syed with 5,690 votes.
Following behind were Jennifer Bruzan Taylor with 4,463 votes, Meghna Bansal with 4,153 votes, Derek McDaniel with 3,826 votes and Nag Jaiswal with 2,252 votes.
Election results will remain unofficial until mail-in ballots postmarked for Election Day or earlier are counted, provisional ballots are checked and votes are canvassed.
Bruzan Taylor and Holzauer are both seeking a second term on council. White is seeking a third. The fourth seat up for election is currently held by Paul Leong, who is stepping down from council.
Among the challengers, Bansal and McDaniel currently serve on Naperville's Planning and Zoning Commission, Gibson is president of the Naperville Park Board, Jaiswal formerly served on the city's Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission and Syed is president of the Naperville Public Library Board.
Unofficial election results will be updated through the night Tuesday as votes are tabulated.
Check back at napersun.com for updates.
tkenny@chicagotribune.com
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Many charismatics, he writes, 'came to understand this as a present-day mandate to take over human societies so as to govern them according to God's reign.' White-Cain, a longtime supporter of Trump, has been credited for her skill at bringing views long considered extreme into the mainstream of conservative Christianity. Her Miami appearance echoed many familiar themes, preaching about God's dominion and transforming American values and culture. 'We're responsible to create culture. And that culture is a kingdom culture where you bring the heart of God into herding humanity,' White-Cain said during her sermon in Miami. White-Cain's personal story moved some in the church to tears as she shared tales of her tumultuous childhood and unlikely path to ministry. White, who grew up in Mississippi but eventually landed in Florida, emphasized that she didn't attend church until she was 18 years old and that she never imagined that she'd make it out of her abusive situation let alone into the White House. White-Cain has often spoken about her chaotic childhood — her father who had a gambling and drinking problem, died by suicide when she was just five-years-old, she says. In the fallout of her father's death, her mother struggled with alcoholism and before the age of thirteen, she endured years of sexual and physical abuse from babysitters and neighbors, according to a chapter on White-Cain in Taylor's book. In her Miami sermon, White-Cain talked about her journey from the trailer park as an 18-year-old single mother to preaching on television and ultimately, serving as a close spiritual advisor to President Trump. 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This is prophetic. God is getting ready to increase you.' White-Cain said she was moved to plant her own seed at King Jesus Ministries, pledging $12,000. She fetched her checkbook and wrote the donation live in front of thousands watching in person and at home. White-Cain didn't discuss specific issues like the administration's controversial crackdown on immigrants, many of them Hispanic. But she mentioned Trump a few times in her sermon on Thursday, telling the audience that her work was bigger than politics. 'This is not about Democrat or Republican or Independent. This is a moment that God opened up to be harvested,' she said. White-Cain said she has been close friends with the president for over 24 years. The relationship started when Trump called her one day out of the blue, she said, after he saw her preaching on TV and told her she had the 'it' factor. 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The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.