GOP leader says Republican-led DeKalb County Board will prioritize not raising property taxes

SYCAMORE – One week after Republicans likely took the majority back on the DeKalb County Board , party chair Tim Bagby said a GOP-led board plans to prioritize not raising property taxes, among other things.

Local party chairs spoke with Shaw Local News Network this week on what they think went right, and wrong, on election night.

Bagby said he’s happy with the results of the election, particularly on the local level. Republicans took the night, winning most of their races for DeKalb County Board and all local government offices on the ballot, including for DeKalb County Circuit Clerk, coroner and state’s attorney office.

Up the ballot, Republicans didn’t find as much success, however.

“At the congressional level and at the state representative level, we didn’t have the results that we wanted in those races,” Bagby said. “At the national level [President-elect and former President Donald]Trump did the best that he did out of the last three elections, and he did win nationally, but he ultimately lost DeKalb County, as well as the state of Illinois.”

While more DeKalb County voters cast ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris, DeKalb County Democrats did not find much downballot success. They struck out in all three of the countywide races, and were elected to five DeKalb County Board seats, but only one of those came in a competitive race.

Anna Wilhelmi, the head of the DeKalb County Democrats, said despite the electoral loses she is “more determined than ever” to champion her party. Wilhelmi herself ran for a two-year unexpired term in District 11 and lost her bid, if unofficial vote tallies hold.

“We share democratic values, and I know that the majority of DeKalb County shares those values with the Democrats,” Wilhemi said. “We are going to continue to push forward and we are going to protect our most vulnerable in this county. And so we are in for the fight.”

The results of the election are still unofficial, pending Illinois State Board of Elections approval. In 2022 the lSBE found a computer error double-counted local mail-in ballots, leading to a change in the election results.

In the history of elections in DeKalb County, that was an anomaly, and local officials aren’t expecting changes to the unofficial results. Instead, they’re looking at how the results of the election will impact their party.

Wilhelmi said she thinks she needs to do more to help her party win downballot races in future elections, considering the Democratic candidate was the preferred option among DeKalb County voters.

“We need to do more to make sure that people know that we have fantastic candidates here,” Wilhelmi said. “We have fantastic Democrats that are ready to hit the ground working hard for them. So that’s my position, that I need to do more; as a party we need to do more to make sure people go downballot, as well.”

After flipping two seats on the DeKalb County Board from Democrats, Republicans will have control with a 13-11 majority when the board is organized in December.

That should give Republicans the ability to vote in a DeKalb County Board chair from their own party. Party officials have yet to say who they expect the next County Board chair to be.

DeKalb County Board Vice Chair John Frieders, from District 12, was the most recent Republican to serve as chair of the DeKalb County Board. He held the position from December 2019 until December 2022.

Since 1972, there have been 18 different chairs of the DeKalb County Board, according to county documents. If Frieders is voted back into the position by his peers in December, he would become the second person to chair the board in nonconsecutive terms. The last time that happened was in 1988, when Republican Donald Lundeen became chair after holding the position from 1981 to 1984.

While getting their party’s nominee placed as County Board chair isn’t a guarantee, a majority of Republicans will have the ability to more easily govern toward their preferred policies.

Bagby said holding the line on property taxes – a colloquialism often used by DeKalb County officials in recent years to refer to their desire to keep individual taxpayers’ property taxes down while growing the overall tax levy elsewhere – will continue to be a top policy priority.

After receiving support from across DeKalb County at the ballot box, Republicans effectively lost only one race that affected county government. Bagby said it was a matter who was recruited to run for office.

He said Republicans focused on recruiting people who had a connection to the community and were willing to do the required work.

“Each of our candidates worked very hard,” Bagby said. “I regret in the 10th District we didn’t pull Susan Lindell over the line, but unfortunately you don’t win them all. But nine out of 10 is a pretty good record.”