{"id":7730,"date":"2025-05-06T22:29:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T22:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7730"},"modified":"2025-05-06T22:29:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T22:29:44","slug":"getting-reelected-is-special-ken-kolowski-defeats-doug-bernabei-for-peru-mayor-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7730","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Getting reelected is special,\u2019 Ken Kolowski defeats Doug Bernabei for Peru mayor – Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"


Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski smiles while chatting on his phone during Election Night on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at his home in Peru. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
Peru <\/a>Mayor Ken Kolowski faced off against former Police Chief Doug Bernabei for the mayoral seat on Tuesday.
According to unofficial results, Ken Kolowski held a 1,679 votes to 561 votes lead with all precincts counted.
\u201cI\u2019d like to say thank you to everyone that voted,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting reelected is special because that means that the citizens like what we are doing.\u201d
Both candidates agreed during the mayoral forum in February the race would not become contentious but within the last few weeks \u2013 Bernabei and Kolowski have begun firing shots at each other on social media.
\u201cIt\u2019s very unfortunate,\u201d Kolowski said. \u201cAt times, I had to defend myself and I didn\u2019t like it, but I had to defend myself and fight off the lies. I didn\u2019t like it and I apologize for it. But, I had to defend myself.\u201d
Bernabei said that while this campaign became ugly at times he hoped the two could move past it as it would be good for the city of Peru.
\u201cWhile we have some different approaches, I feel in my heart that he truly loves the city of Peru,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people clearly agree with that and he earned his victory.\u201d
Bernabei said that Kolowski clearly earned the trust and admiration from the citizens of Peru.
\u201cWhen someone is able to do that they deserve to be rewarded with such a mandate for reelection,\u201d he said. \u201cI called Mayor Kolowski and was the one ironically to inform him of the results. I told him he should be proud of his accomplishments over the last four years.\u201d
Kolowski said the city already has \u201cexciting\u201d things in the works over the next four years; more jobs, more retail.
\u201cThere\u2019s just so much going on that\u2019s in the works right now,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd again having the experience helps\u2026I always preach that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.\u201d
\u201cThe city of Peru is most important to individuals,\u201d Kolowski said. \u201cYou just got to do your job and have fun. Keep pushing forward and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re being successful right now. Because we\u2019re a team.\u201d
Peru Mayoral Candidate Doug Bernabei chats with others while looking at election results on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at the Right Spice in Peru. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski smiles while chatting on his phone during Election Night on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at his home in Peru. (Scott Anderson)Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski faced off against former Police Chief Doug Bernabei for the mayoral seat on Tuesday. According to unofficial results, Ken Kolowski held a 1,679 votes to 561 votes lead with all precincts counted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t