Now that Karen McConnaughay has retaken her seat as Kane County Chairman, she hopes to continue her campaign to help ease the burden of a turbulent economic period for homeowners.

McConnaughay defeated Democrat Sandy Kaczmarski of Elburn, winning 83,211 votes, or 51.7 percent of the vote to Kaczmarski’s 62,958 votes, 38.9 percent.

“The first focus is weathering the storm of a difficult economy,” McConnaughay said at the Republican campaign party in Geneva’s Riverside Banquets Tuesday night. “And really focusing on getting people back to work; helping people with mortgage foreclosure, really stabilizing the economy’s fiscal picture so we can continue to provide adequate services to the general public, but doing the things we need to stimulate the local economy.”

McConnaughay started a housing aid program in June for homeowners called Help for Homeowners. County board members joined forces with government leaders and housing agencies to help homeowners find free government services to help homeowners facing foreclosure from non-profit agencies that includes the Lazarus House in St. Charles. Other programs include foreclosure prevention counseling, a first-time homebuyer program that provides closing-cost assistance and programs that help pay property taxes.

The St. Charles native said she hopes to create more jobs and focus on investing in transportation projects. In 2007 the county reported a 42.6 percent increase in mortgage foreclosures from 2006.

“I think job creation is really critical right now in really reducing the impact of mortgage foreclosure,” McConnaughay said. “Our county has one of the highest mortgage foreclosure rates in the Chicago area and that is a focus we really want to keep in front of us. Every time a homeowner loses a home in Kane County it has a definite impact, not just to them, but to the county.”

Kaczmarski said she was disappointed but grateful for the chance to get to know Kane County residents. She said she was disappointed but enjoyed getting to know Kane residents during her campaign.

“My campaign was a sheer joy and I met so many people and I had so many people reaching out to me,” Kaczmarski said. “I am very grateful for people who did support me and vote for me. It’s a shame.”

The Democrat, who resides in Elburn, said she is not sure if she will run for county chair or public office again. She said she plans to return to freelance writing and return to work as a news anchor.

“The other disappointing thing is taxpayers are going to continue to be at the mercy of people who use taxpayers money as their own personal bank account,” Kaczmarski said. "The people of Kane County lost today.”