Nonpartisan election? McHenry County Democrats, township GOP group, make candidate recommendations

The Democratic Party of McHenry County has “recommended” dozens of candidates running for various local offices in the April 1 election.

The recommendations come as political parties have been getting involved in what generally are nonpartisan local election process in recent years.

Capitol News Illinois reported this month that statewide Democratic Party officials said participating in local elections was part of the party’s strategy to be active year-round, not just during election season.

In a news release, the state party said it was supporting nearly 300 candidates in local elections this spring and opposing about 230 conservative candidates. The Illinois Democrats also planned a six-figure mail and digital advertising campaign, in part to help voters identify candidates who are “aligned” with President Donald Trump’s views, according to the release.

“The paid communications program will highlight the Trump–aligned conservatives on the ballot, as well as support the credible, commonsense community advocates that [the Democratic Party of Illinois] recommends," according to the release.

“These local offices, if we allow them to be uncontested, especially with the Trump administration in office, you know with our lack of control of the wheels of power in D.C., we could allow our state to start slipping to the right at the local level,” Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Ben Hardin told Capitol News Illinois.

Likewise, local Republican groups have been getting involved.

In McHenry County’s Grafton Township, the local GOP endorsed three candidates for the Huntley Community School District 158 school board: Corine Burns, Andrew Martin and Dana Wiley, according to a Facebook post from the party.

Grafton Township GOP chair Orville Brettman said “so-called” nonpartisan elections “are no longer nonpartisan.”

Brettman said the Grafton Township GOP is “not in the business of endorsing liberal Democrats” and the party reached out to school board candidates who have not consistently pulled Democratic primary ballots. Those candidates were invited to come speak or send over information about their stances and the party went from there.

The Grafton GOP was involved in campaigning in the 2023 school board elections, Brettman said.

Burns and Martin are among eight candidates running for four four-year seats, and Wiley is running against Andrew Fekete for a two-year term.

The candidates in District 158 for the four-year seats include incumbents Sean Cratty and Paul Troy, and challengers Cassie Khurana, Rich Bobby, Melissa Maiorino, Jim Hollich, Burns and Martin. Cratty is also on the ballot as part of a Republican slate for re-election to the Grafton Township board April 1.

The Democrats didn’t recommend anyone in District 158, but crossed off Burns, Martin and Wiley in their voter guide, indicating an anti-endorsement.

In McHenry County, it’s not the first time the Democratic Party has made recommendations for local elections, chair Ruth Scifo said, noting the party isn’t formally endorsing because the races are nonpartisan.

She said the party knows some of the candidates, but will also check to see if people are donating or pulling Democratic ballots in primaries. And sometimes candidates will tell the party about other people running and people fly under the party’s radar but the party relies on what people tell them, Scifo said.

“We kind of have a handle on who’s who,” Scifo said.

But some candidates have indicated they don’t want a party endorsement. Scifo said the party respects candidates’ wishes and in some areas, people want to run as independents. She said it was “unfortunate” the party had to weigh in, and if someone has extreme views, they should not be running. Scifo said the state party has been helpful in providing resources and helping with how to run for office trainings.

But some candidates said they’d received no contact from the party before the recommendations were made. And the Democratic Party tweaked some of the recommendations or anti-recommendations they’ve made in the race since the guide first came out.

For instance, Johnsburg District 12 school board candidate Mark Majercik originally had a line through his name on the website. In an update, the party shifted their recommendation to neutral. Majercik said he hasn’t interacted with the Democrats and the only person that has reached out to him about the school board race was the Northwest Herald regarding a letter he wrote.

Bull Valley Village Board candidate Edgar Ellinghausen, an incumbent, originally had a neutral recommendation, but the party shifted it to a positive one when they retooled it. Ellinghausen said Monday he found out about it that morning from another incumbent who was puzzled about their name being crossed out.

Ellinghausen said he hasn’t been in touch with the Democratic party or ever contributed to them, and the only connection to the party he could think of was his late wife rang doorbells for U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood’s campaign when Underwood’s district included McHenry County.

In Woodstock, where three city council seats are up and seven candidates are vying for them, the Democrats endorsed challengers Theo Dice, Gregory Hanson and Lou Ness, the former county board member who is running as a write-in. The party made recommended not to vote for the other four candidates, incumbents Tom Nierman and Bob Seegers and challengers Joshua Fourdyce and John Puzzo.

Dice said the Democrats reached out to him and had him fill out a questionnaire. Dice also filled out a survey from the group Moms Demand Action and said he was a “Gun Sense” candidate, which he said signals to Moms Demand Action supporters he would work for gun violence prevention and would govern with “gun safety in mind.”

According to the Moms Demand Action website, Dice and Crystal Lake District 47 candidate Maria Krause are “gun sense candidates.”

Ness said she’s active in the Democratic Party and her voting record is “aligned with Democratic principles.”

Hanson found out about the recommendation when a reporter asked him about it last week.

“I’m a little bit shocked,” Hanson said. He added he is very independent and not involved with any political party. Hanson later said while it was very nice of the Democrats, he probably wished they didn’t do that.