Two incumbent members of the state house of representatives who represent Near South Side and Near West Side neighborhoods retained their seats in Tuesday’s primary election.

Preliminary returns from the Chicago Board of Elections gave Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th) more than 44 percent of the vote, an 11-point margin over second-place challenger David Schroeder. Twenty-one percent of voters in the 5th District, which runs from the Near North Side to 64th St., voted for candidate Gwendolyn Drake.

In the 10th house district, which includes parts of the Near West Side, Rep. Annazette Collins garnered nearly 35 percent of the vote, besting Jonathan Goldman’s 24 percent.

Over five challengers, Art Turner Jr. won his father’s old seat in the 9th house district, a territory that includes parts of the West Loop, Pilsen and University Village.

“It’s a good feeling. It’s been a difficult race, with a lot of competition. But I’m just looking forward to learning a lot, doing my best, taking it all in,” he said Tuesday night.

All of the state house candidates are Democrats, and are likely to win in November’s general election.

The closely watched race to head Cook County government, meanwhile, was won by Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). The incumbent president of the county board, Todd Stroger, finished fourth out of four candidates.

Despite such high-profile primary races for governor and U.S. Senate, turnout was low on Tuesday, with just 26 percent of registered voters in Chicago casting ballots Tuesday, according to the board of elections.

For much of the day, voters trickled into polling stations on the Near South and Near West sides, leaving campaign workers with more than enough palm cards and other materials to pass out.

By mid-afternoon, the numbers were apparent to activists making the rounds on behalf of their chosen candidates.

At about 1:45 p.m., for example, one precinct in East Pilsen had seen just 36 ballots cast out of 438 registered voters.

That number came from Charlie Wintersteen, an election judge with Jesus Garcia’s campaign for Cook County commissioner in the 7th District.

Wintersteen and another Garcia volunteer, Alvaro Obregon, arrived to check turnout at the Providence of God Catholic Church at 717 W. 18th St. According to Obregon, the precinct wasn’t unique.

“It’s really low. I just stopped by one polling place – it was at 11 percent,” he said.

Obregon counted the morning snowfall as a factor but also reported hearing comments that people “were tired of the same old thing.” Instead of motivating them to the polls, he said, that sentiment kept people home.

Wintersteen pointed out that the numbers weren’t necessarily good or bad for his candidate.

“It’s easy to sway the election if you get your people out,” he said, noting what a swing of only six ballots would mean in a precinct where 36 people had voted. In the end, Garcia won his race, defeating the incumbent Joseph Moreno, a Stroger ally.

In the 5th District, preliminary results show that 10,373 people voted Tuesday, a decline from the 15,103 votes cast there two years ago, when now-President Barack Obama was on the top of the ticket.

The dropoff came in spite of door knocking, mailing and phone banking from the candidates, and assists that both got from neighborhood political organizations.

The 27th Ward Regular Democratic Organization endorsed Dunkin and sent out volunteers, while an organization based in downtown’s 42nd Ward supported Schroeder and gathered around 100 volunteers to help him, 42nd Ward committeeman John Corrigan said.

Tuesday’s election was the first in three primary cycles that Dunkin had faced a challenger in the Democratic Party primary.

When asked if there were any races that particularly caught their attention this primary season, several voters referenced the Democratic Party battle for president of the Cook County board.

“I voted to vote against Todd Stroger,” said West Loop resident Jeff Wuczynski outside his polling place at the Salvation Army at 1 N. Ogden. He chose Terrence O’Brien, the second-place finisher, instead.

Rholunda DeMar, who voted at Dett School, 2306 W. Maypole, before she went into work on Tuesday morning, said the Cook County sales tax increase was fresh on her mind. She went with the eventual winner, Ald. Preckwinkle.

“At this point, there’s no scandal associated with her,” DeMar said.

The incumbent county board president was also on the mind of South Loop resident Joseph Szydlowski, who cast his ballot at the 1st District police station.

“I wanted to vote against Stroger,” he said. “I wanted to vote for Preckwinkle, too. That was important to me.”

Contact: mmaidenberg@chicagojournal.com