Joe Tirio

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.