Villa Park Candidate Not Dropping Out, Despite Racy Photos On Web
VILLA PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Villa Park politics don't normally catch much attention, but the race for village president is making news around the world -- all because of what one candidate did.
Some say support for candidate John Heidelmeier has gone south after racy photos of the former Villa Park police chief were published by the UK's Daily Mail newspaper.
"People do a lot of weird things on the Internet, I guess," resident Hillary Hatton tells CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez. "Maybe some people who would vote for him are going to think, well, at least he admits it, stands by it. He's not going to say one thing and do another."
Heidelmeier told the Chicago Sun-Times he remains "steadfast in the race" and said he did nothing illegal.
A longtime critic of Heidelmeier, Trustee John Davis, who is running for re-election, indicated to CBS 2 he is steering clear of the issue.
"I do not want to have anything to do with this issue. This is a private matter for the Heidelmeier family," Davis said in a statement.
While there was a car in the driveway, no one answered the door at the Heidelmeier house Thursday.
Marissa Anderson's father took down his Heidelmeier yard sign.
"He thinks it's a real shame because he was going for him but it definitely changed his view on him a lot. He lost respect for him," she said.
Heidelmeier was with the Villa Park Police Department for 23 years, but according to residents mysteriously lost his job last year. Now there's increased pressure to hear why. As for his opponent Deborah Bullwinkle, there was no comment from her Thursday.
