Joe Tirio

Candidates for village boards, city council, school boards and a host of other elected roles began filing paperwork at with local clerks and at the McHenry County Clerk's office for the April 1, 2025, consolidated elections.

Voters cast the first-ever ballots at the McHenry County Election Center Thursday as early voting began in McHenry and other collar counties.

There will be more contested out races in November election than in the March primary, but some Republicans running in countywide races face no opposition.

McHenry County officials are planning to get settled in the new election center by next month, though not at the originally budgeted cost.

Turnout has been low for McHenry County voters for the primary election whose voting ended Tuesday.

The first ballots of the 2024 election have been cast in McHenry County, with primary election early voting starting Thursday.

Election season is upon us. Here's what to know ahead of the March 19 primary election.

McHenry County is considering renting out a former Aldi to use as an election center and polling place.

All three incumbents for the Woodstock School District 200 school board are slated to hold onto their seats, according to early election results from Tuesday, which some said they view as reaffirming the direction the district is going.

Both incumbents in Crystal Lake are in position to hold onto their City Council seats, while a first-time candidate is “cautiously optimistic” about joining onto the council based on unofficial and incomplete results from Tuesday’s election.

Tuesday marks the last day for voters to cast their ballots in several local races, including school board, municipalities, and library and park districts.

Nearly four dozen of the local races in McHenry County will be competitive on Tuesday, as voters head to the polls to decide who will lead their school boards, municipalities, libraries and parks.

The ballot dropbox in front of the McHenry County Clerk’s Office in Woodstock was damaged Tuesday morning, and officials aren’t confident it will be fixed before next week’s election.

McHenry County Clerk Clerk Joe Tirio said with the April 4 elections falling during spring break, his office lost 96 judges on one day last week.

County Clerk and Recorder Joe Tirio encouraged eligible residents to consider running as a write-in candidate for the April 4 local elections.

Despite eight objections filed against McHenry County school board hopefuls, no candidates were kicked off the ballot after a hearing on Friday.

More than a hundred candidates across 19 school districts have filed to run for school board in the past week across McHenry County, meaning a dozen districts can expect to see competitive races heading into April.

Candidates filing for school board on Monday said they were concerned about a variety of issues, including curriculum inclusion, taxes and helping students come out of the COVID-19 pandemic

Incumbent Joe Tirio, a Republican, faced off against Democrat Mary Mahady for the McHenry County clerk’s race, a role which also includes the county recorder’s office.

Voters said they were most concerned about the potential impact of the SAFE-T Act on crime, abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade and decades-high inflation.

Both Democrats and Republicans in McHenry County say they are noticing more political signs than normal, including some that aren’t following the rules.

The race for Illinois governor won’t be the only one on Tuesday’s ballot. With the redrawing of the state’s political maps, the make-up of the entire McHenry County Board and both the U.S. and Illinois houses of representatives will be determined, along several other races.

In Kane and McHenry counties, vote-by-mail totals have exceeded those of the 2018 midterm election. DuPage County’s vote-by-mail total was nearly at its 2018 mark by last week.

Monday marked the last day for candidates and parties to file for vacant ballot spots that did not see anybody nominated during the primary.

McHenry County Clerk candidate Joe Tirio on his office's priorities: "While we can’t control what happens on a federal level, I know we can continue to deliver elections that the people of our county can trust." Read Tirio's full election questionnaire here.

Voting information cards with new polling locations went out before the McHenry County Board voted on the changes

The McHenry County clerk did not have the authority to throw out a McHenry Township ballot question, Illinois Supreme Court said in a decision Wednesday.

McHenry County’s elections this year will include new processes – including hand counts of randomly selected races – which officials hope will improve both election integrity and voters’ confidence in the system, the County Clerk’s Office said.

McHenry County political candidates lined up Monday morning outside the county clerk’s office for their chance to have their name first on the ballot, as part of the tradition tied to the first day of election filing.

Democrats have criticized the maps for cutting up neighborhoods, saying that could confuse voters about where they should go vote

“When you look at the maps as were initially contrived and now this one, the concerns we presented to the County Board are not addressed,” the chair of the Democratic Party of McHenry County said.

A presidential visit, a double homicide in Algonquin and an ‘American Idol’ semi-finalist all made headlines in McHenry County this past year.

Democratic leaders said the map making process lacked transparency after it was unveiled Thursday ahead of Tuesday's vote

"We cannot afford to have doubts about the way our elections are conducted and managed, but those doubts have begun to creep into McHenry County’s elections," Mahady said

In-person early voting for the Feb. 23 primary kicked off Thursday, though only three townships have races on the ballot, McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said in a news release.

The McHenry Township Board on Thursday voted, 3-2, to send a proposal to voters this April that would eliminate the township’s road district

McHenry County Board member Charles “Chuck” Wheeler, the first Black man to serve on the board, died overnight Wednesday to Thursday at the age of 63.

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks and State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally are gathering signatures in an effort to put a question on the April 2021 ballot that could abolish Algonquin Township, according to a Tuesday news release.

A judge on Monday ruled McHenry County Clerk Joseph Tirio was right to not put a question about whether to dissolve the McHenry Township on the November ballot.

McHenry County Clerk and Recorder Joe Tirio on Tuesday came under fire from multiple McHenry County Board members over what is being done to prevent potential election errors.

A referendum from the Marengo Fire Protection District authorizing a property tax increase to help fund benefit options for firefighters and paramedics was incorrectly written on election ballots on Tuesday.

McHenry County Clerk and Recorder Joe Tirio has filed an emergency motion to intervene in the case of a Crystal Lake man hoping to appear on the spring ballot for a seat on the Crystal Lake City Council

Joe Tirio now has two desks. The McHenry County recorder was sworn in as county clerk Monday, marking the first day of Tirio’s tenure as the head of two major elected offices.

Newly elected McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said he plans to improve accuracy of elections following news that his predecessor did not include tens of thousands of early votes, a margin that altered the outcome of several major races

With 93 percent of precincts reporting at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Tirio had captured 56.6 percent (39,856 votes) to Democratic challenger Andrew Georgi’s 43.4 percent (30,536).

If elected as McHenry County Clerk, Joe Tirio plans to simultaneously hold the recorder’s office without a salary

In a binding referendum, McHenry County residents voted in favor of eliminating the recorder’s office and folding it into the clerk’s office in 2018

Joe Tirio has been a major contributor to Brettman’s campaign, according to campaign finance records.

McHenry resident Dan R. Aylward, frustrated over his increasing property tax bill, visited the county treasurer’s office and paid the first installment in dollar bills – all $5,734.18 of it.

Several Republican candidates in close Tuesday primary races are holding their leads with the counting of vote-by-mail and early-voting paper ballots in McHenry County.