Elmhurst resident Melissa Villanueva won a seat on the DuPage County Board on Tuesday, Nov. 3, capturing 59% of the vote in the District 1 two-year term race.

Villanueva, a Democrat and head of Brewpoint Coffee, defeated Republican Paula Pezza, a former Elmhurst alderwoman, according to unofficial totals reported by Shaw Local.

Her victory was part of a countywide Democratic sweep that will give the party a 17-1 majority on the 18-member board once victorious candidates are sworn in later this year. Democrats first took control of the board in 2020 with 11 seats, the party's first majority in the traditionally Republican stronghold in decades.

Villanueva campaigned on economic development, collaboration and transit accessibility. Pezza campaigned on improving public safety, citing her time on Elmhurst's Public Affairs and Safety Committee, where she said she worked with local officials to expand pedestrian crossings and install new sidewalks.

In the District 1 four-year term race, incumbent Democrat Michael Childress won re-election with about 58% of the vote, defeating Republican Eric Poplonski.

Veteran Republicans ousted

The sweep cost four Republican board members their seats. Three veterans, Brian Krajewski, James Zay and Eckhoff, had a combined 66 years on the board. A fourth Republican, Kari Galassi, lost after a single term.

Krajewski said the outcome did not surprise him.

"People were voting and sending a message to Washington, and the Republicans locally got tied up with that," Krajewski said, according to Shaw Local.

A countywide pattern

Democratic candidates won every contested race in DuPage County for the second consecutive year, according to Shaw Local. The party also re-elected County Board Chair Deb Conroy and flipped the treasurer's office and regional superintendent of schools.

That scale surprised even close observers. Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at College of DuPage, told Shaw Local the results caught her off guard.

"I've been writing about the blue wave in DuPage since 2018 and even I didn't see such an obliteration," Mouritsen said.

All vote totals remain unofficial. New board members, including Villanueva, are set to be sworn in later this year.