DeKALB – Election Day is here, and DeKalb County voters will get a chance to weigh in on a state constitutional amendment on workers’ rights to unionize, select representatives for all 24 DeKalb County Board seats and choose the next Illinois governor.

Seats are up for grabs across all levels of government in this year’s midterms, including in DeKalb County, Springfield and in Washington. Before political redistricting occurred statewide, DeKalb County was represented by two districts in the Illinois General Assembly. As a result of redistricting spurred by the 2020 U.S. Census, DeKalb County will now be represented by five state legislative districts and four state senate districts.

Do you know what’s on your ballot, where to go to vote, how to check your registration status, or where to research candidates?

Check out our voter’s guide below. All polling places will be open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

How do I find my polling place?

Your polling place is determined by your precinct number and listed on your voter registration card, which you should have received in the mail. You may also check your local county board of elections office at www.dekalb.il.clerkserve.com.

Can I request a vote by mail ballot for the Nov. 8 midterm elections?

No. The last day to submit a request for a vote by mail by ballot was Nov. 3.

Where can I register to vote on Election Day?

DeKalb County residents who are not currently registered to vote or who have changed their name and/or address within the county, may register and vote on Election Day. They are encouraged to visit the Election Day Registration Center at the DeKalb County Administration Building or the polling place that accommodates the voter’s address so it may be done. If already registered to vote, at your current address, you are advised to vote at your designated polling place only.

How do I know if I’m registered to vote?

Unsure? Double-check at ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx.

Who’s on the ballot?

Here is a list of contested races, amendments and referendums up for election. You can preview a sample ballot by visiting your local board of elections website at www.vr.platinumvrms.com/county/RSLRequest/66

Countywide

DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder

Tasha Sims, Republican

Linh Nguyen, Democrat

DeKalb County Board (vote for two per district)

All 24 seats of the DeKalb County Board are up for election during this year’s elections. DeKalb County is divided into 12 districts based on population. Two members are elected from each district.

District 1

(Includes Franklin Township, Kingston, South Grove, Mayfield and Malta Townships)

Fred Hall, Democrat

Maureen Little, Republican

Brad Belanger, Republican

District 3

(Includes a portion of Sycamore Township that is mostly south of Peace Road and north of Route 64)

Timothy B. Bagby, Republican

Keegan Reynolds, Republican

Amber Quitno, Democrat

District 4

(Includes a portion of Sycamore Township that is mostly south of Route 64 and a portion of Cortland Township north of Bethany Road)

Elizabeth Lundeen, Republican

Stewart Ogilvie, Democrat

Laurie Emmer, Republican

Brett Johansen, Democrat

District 8

(Includes a northeast portion of DeKalb Township that is east of Glidden Road)

Bill Cummings, Republican

Dianne Leifheit, Republican

Christopher Porterfield, Democrat

Michelle Pickett, Democrat

District 10

(Includes the southwest portion of DeKalb Township that is north of Fairview Drive, south of Lincoln Highway and mostly west of State Route 23/Fourth Street.)

Susan Smith Lindell, Republican

Mary Lee Cozad, Democrat

Suzanne Willis, Democrat

District 11

(Includes all of Milan, Shabbona, Paw Paw, Victor, Clinton and Squaw Grove Townships, as well as Afton and Pierce Townships south of Perry Road, Somonauk Township west of Governor Beveridge Highway and north of Chicago Road and Sandwich Township north of Chicago Road)

Celeste (Shell) DeYoung Dunn, Democrat

Roy Plote, Republican

Karen Cribben, Republican

District 12

(Includes Somonauk Township east of Governor Beveridge Highway and Sandwich Township south of Chicago Road)

Jeff Kowalski, Democrat

Jerry Osland, Republican

John Frieders, Republican

Nonpartisan referendum (vote yes or no)

Genoa-Kingston Fire Protection District is asking local voters to weigh in on whether they support increasing the property tax levy rate limit by 0.35% for fire protection and ambulance services for the levy year 2021.

If the rate cap increase was passed, the levy would be 0.813% of Genoa-Kingston area residents’ total assessed home values.

Under the current levy cap, the fire protection district could collect $1.09 million in property tax revenue. Under the proposed cap increase, the district would be able to collect a maximum of $1.91 million, according to the referendum. Those with homes valued at $100,000 would pay an estimated $116.67 in property taxes for the district.

In a Nov. 5 social media post, the fire protection district stated it would use the increase in property tax revenue for improved emergency response times, maintaining emergency services and adequate staffing, equipment and fire suppression tool needs. The district says it hasn’t ever asked for additinoal funding since its inception in 1961.

Statewide

Amendment 1 (vote yes or no)

The proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution would give workers “the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively and to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions, and to promote economic welfare and safety at work,” according to the amendment language.

The amendment would also prohibit any new law that would interfere or diminish the rights of workers to organize.

Illinois Governor

Darren Bailey, Republican

J.B. Pritzker, Democrat

Scott Schluter, Libertarian

Illinois Attorney General

Thomas DeVore, Republican

Kwame Raoul, Democrat

Daniel Robin, Libertarian

Secretary of State

Dan Brady, Republican

Alexi Giannoulias, Democrat

Jon Stewart, Libertarian

Comptroller

Shannon Teresi, Republican

Susana Mendoza, Democrat

Deirdre McCloskey, Libertarian

Illinois Treasurer

Tom Demmer, Republican

Michael Frerichs, Democrat

Preston Nelson, Libertarian

Congress

U.S. Senator – One of Illinois’ two U.S. Senate seats also is up for grabs.

Kathy Salvi, Republican

Tammy Duckworth, Democrat

Bill Redpath, Libertarian

U.S. Representative – 11th Congressional District

Redrawn for this election, the 11th District encompasses parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.

Catalina Lauf, Republican

Bill Foster, Democrat

U.S. Representative – 14th Congressional District

The newly-redrawn 14th Congressional district includes portions of DeKalb, Kendall, Kane, La Salle, DuPage and Will counties in northern Illinois.

Scott Gryder, Republican

Lauren Underwood, Democrat

U.S. Representative – 16th Congressional District

The 16th district, which was shifted as part of the decennial redistricting process that followed the 2020 Census, now stretches from the northern border of Illinois south past Peoria.

Darin LaHood, Republican

Elizabeth “Lisa” Haderlein, Democrat

State Legislature

45th Senate District

Senate District 45 includes northwestern Sycamore, Genoa, Kingston, Kirkland, southwestern Cherry Valley and Oregon and runs west to the Iowa border and north to the Wisconsin border.

Andrew Chesney, Republican

Gerald H. Podraza, Democrat

75th House District

District 75 includes northwestern Sandwich, Somonauk and Lake Holiday and runs south to Seneca and Morris and east to include Plano, Yorkville, southern Oswego and northwestern Minooka and Channahon.

Jed Davis, Republican

Heidi Henry, Democrat

76th House District

District 76 includes downtown DeKalb and Northern Illinois University and travels south along Route 23 to include Ottawa, Oglesby and Peru.

Jason Haskell, Republican

Lance Yednock, Democrat

Courts

Vying for the an open seat on the Illinois Supreme Court are former prosecutor and Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, a Republican, and Lake County Judge Elizabeth Rochford, a Democrat.

Rochford has been a judge for the past 10 years. She has worked as a prosecutor and private attorney and served 23 years as commissioner of the Illinois Court of Claims. She serves on multiple advisory committees to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Curran also is a former congressional candidate, who has worked as the Lake County coroner, a prosecutor and defense attorney. He has served as an assistant attorney general in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The seat the pair is competing for represents the 2nd District, which includes DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Lake and McHenry counties.

Candidates running for the one open seat on the 2nd District Illinois Appellate Court are Lake County Judge Chris Kennedy, a Democrat, and Republican Kane County Judge Susan Clancy Boles.

Kennedy, appointed as an associate judge in 2020, has worked as a Lake County assistant state’s attorney and has had a private law firm. He served on the board of the Autism Society of Illinois and volunteered as its legislative director, lobbying for laws helping those with disabilities.

Boles has served as a judge in Kane County since 2007. She was appointed an associate judge in 2007 and appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to circuit court judge in 2008, then was elected in 2010 as a circuit court judge.