Turnout in McHenry County’s primary Tuesday is on pace to be around the same levels as the 2022 primary election, McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said Tuesday afternoon.
Tirio said Tuesday he expected about 42,000 to 46,000 voters to have cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election by the end of voting. McHenry County currently has 223,255 registered voters, according to the clerk’s website.
Tirio said Monday that 7,995 people had voted early, and a nearly identical number – 7,661 people – had returned their mail ballots.
In the 2022 primary election, 44,209 of the county’s then-225,443 voters showed up to the polls, according to clerk’s office records.
On the GOP side, McHenry County had contested primaries for governor, secretary of state, U.S. senator, some Congressional seats and State Senate District 33, which covers parts of south-central McHenry County.
Democratic voters in McHenry County had contested primaries for U.S. Senate, some Congressional seats and State House District 52, which covers portions of southeastern McHenry County.
And those interested in referendums but not candidates had the chance to snag a nonpartisan ballot. Voters in McHenry County were among those in Illinois with a nonbinding question about opting into the federal scholarship tax credit program.
Locally, countywide officeholders seeking reelection this year had no contested primaries, but Tirio and Treasurer Donna Kurtz, both Republicans, will face Democrats Bill McNeese and Amin Karim, respectively, in November. Sheriff Robb Tadelman and Regional Superintendent of Schools Diana Hartmann, both Republicans, do not currently have opponents in November, but may have opponents if the Democrats slate candidates.
The Republican Party enjoys a 15-3 supermajority on the McHenry County Board, but two GOP incumbents had contested primaries Tuesday. Republican voters in District 7, in central McHenry County, are choosing between incumbent board member Brian Sager of Woodstock and former county board member Jeff Schwartz of McHenry. The winner faces Democrat Patrick Shea in November.
In District 8, which covers large portions of the northern and western parts of McHenry County, voters were choosing between incumbent board member Larry Smith of Harvard and challenger Marty Mohr of Marengo. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Christy “Chris” Stevens in November.
But voters in at least one county board district will have a new county board member after the election. County Board District 9, in the southwestern part of the county, will have a new board member after incumbent Michael Skala, a Huntley Republican, declined to run for reelection.
The district had no contested primaries and Republican candidate Niko Kanakaris will face Democrat Christine Hamm for the seat in the November election.
Kanakaris owns several restaurants in the area and is a former Huntley Village Board member, while Hamm was among the organizers of a group that worked to flip control of the Huntley District 158 school board last year after being dissatisfied with the direction the school board went in after the 2023 school board election.
For all of the results from Tuesday’s primary election, as the numbers continue to come in – from Illinois governor and U.S. Senate seats to Congress and McHenry County positions – visit shawlocal.com/news/election-results.
For all of our election coverage, visit shawlocal.com/news/election.