2026 Election Questionnaire: Frankie Pretzel, Will County Board, District 2

Name: Frankie Pretzel

What office are you seeking: Will County Board

What is your political party?

What is your current age? 46

Occupation and employer: I am self employed

What offices, if any, have you previously held? Will County Board Member and Forest Preserve of Will County Commissioner

City: Born and raised in New Lenox

Campaign website: frankiepretzel.com

Education: BA in Political Science from University of Illinois Chicago

Community involvement: I am a New Lenox Republican Precinct Committeeman

Active member at my church, Cherry Hill Church of Christ

Marital status/Immediate family: Married to Traci and father to two teenage daughters

What are your top three priorities for this district?

1) We must stop raising our levy year after year which results in higher taxes.

2) Keep our county safe and support our Will County Sherriff’s Department

3) Stop allowing solar companies to take over our valuable farmland

What types of job growth are needed in Will County to help residents keep up with rising costs, especially housing?

I would like to see more private sector jobs created in Will County through population growth. More people coming to Will County would mean more homes being built, new restaurants coming in and an increase in small businesses coming to Will County. All of these things create good paying jobs and strengthen our community.

What should be infrastructure priorities and projects over the next four years?

The county should focus on eliminating any and all spaces that we currently pay rent to occupy. We should instead modify and use all of the buildings we currently own to accommodate the departments still renting. Other than that, I do not support any new buildings until we pay off the ones we have.

What is your position on data centers? Should the county be open to their development?

I do not support bringing new data centers to Will County. We have a lot to learn about the long-term consequences of these centers.

Do you favor solar farm development? Should the county encourage more sustainable energy development?

I have major concerns about how many solar projects have already been approved to come to Will County. These projects are getting bigger and bigger and taking over some of the best farmland in the world. I am not against solar energy, but I think moving forward we need to be very careful where we approve them to go.