Democrats are looking to hold on to their 12-to-8 majority control of the McLean County Board in this fall's election. Half of those Democratic seats are up for election Nov. 3 — including four contested races.
One of them is in District 10 on Bloomington-Normal's east side, where Democrat Corey Beirne seeks re-election to a second term. His challenger is Republican Matt Steinkoenig.
Beirne is chair of the Health committee, and sits on the Justice, Rules and Executive committees. Outside of county government, he teaches music classes at two schools.
Beirne said his first term has gone well and he wants to keep that momentum going.
“I feel like we've got a good track record, very optimistic about the future, very excited about what the community has to offer and would like to continue that work and move it forward,” he said.
He is running against Steinkoenig, a Town of Normal firefighter. Steinkoenig’s campaign focuses on limited government. He said he felt inspired to run by a general sense that things need to change.
“I think that there's a lot of things societally that are kind of wrong right now or just feel like they're kind of off, and I think that people, they sense that,” he said.
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Balancing the future and the present
Part of the board’s responsibility is to be a steward of the county’s land and tax dollars. That includes balancing future growth.
For instance, McLean County is a top producer of wind and solar energy in Illinois. Yet, the windmills and solar panels that generate that renewable energy can take up farmland.
“We have some of the richest farmland in the world, maybe even the richest farmland in the world, and it should be protected,” Steinkoenig said.
District 10 does not include much farmland, but rural areas are nearby. Beirne said when renewable energy projects come before the board, he often hears those land-use concerns. However, he said the county isn’t voting with their conscience on developments like that.
“If somebody owns a piece of land and wants to do something with it, the government can’t tell them what to do,” Beirne said. “If a landowner chooses to put a solar farm or a wind turbine on their land, and follows all the proper procedures and goes through all the zoning requirements, that is what the county board evaluates.”
Data centers
That tug-of-war between the present and future is prevalent in the current data center debate too.
Over the summer, McLean County approved stringent requirements on data centers.
As part of those regulations, facility owners would need to identify potential impacts to infrastructure and public services such as roads, emergency service and utilities. They also must list measures to address those impacts.
That would include planned water use amounts, sources, treatment and effect on local groundwater sources, as well as plans for handling wastewater volume, disposal and environmental impacts.
Electricity consumption would have to be monitored and documented, as well as sources and impacts on electrical infrastructure.
Data center owners also will have to provide any specialized training or equipment for the fire protection district responsible for emergency response for the facility.
Also, they’d be required to provide a decommissioning plan explaining how the site will be restored, including cost, when the data center closes.
Beirne said those regulations are a point of pride for him on the campaign trail.
“When I go out and knock on doors, I'm telling people we are the most restrictive county for data center placement, and that's not a no, but we're not cheap dates,” he said. “If you want to build a data center here, you have to address this long list of citizen concerns.”
Steinkoenig said he shares many of the concerns that people in McLean County have regarding data centers, but he is conflicted on possibly falling behind.
“I worry about A.I. going forward, I worry about some of the things that the data center will do, but I also know that they're needed as well to be able to keep up with some of the demands that this world is kind of going at these days,” he said.
If a developer were able to meet the county’s demands, Steinkoenig said his vote would likely echo what his constituents want.
Beirne said he would evaluate the proposal based on the county’s criteria, and said votes like that are not taken based on how the board member feels, but rather how well the developer complies with the county’s requirements.
Holding county government officials accountable
Two Republican McLean County officials have faced scrutiny over their performance.
McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael is up for reelection in November. She's faced criticism over budget overspending in her office. Democratic County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said there have been multiple overages in the last several years: $95,000 in 2023, $386,000 in 2024 and $400,000 in 2025.
Her office has also made a series of tax miscalculations dating back to last year. Near Hudson, an error occurred when the county clerk’s office incorrectly taxed 612 nearby properties as if they were in located in the Village of Hudson. That spread the bill among more properties, meaning some within the village didn’t pay enough, resulting in a $81,000 shortfall. The county is loaning that amount to the village, which will have to collect enough to pay that loan back in 2027. It's one of at least three such miscalculations.
Steinkoenig suggested further oversight is needed and more systems need to be in place to check for mistakes.
“Make sure the right people are in place and hold them accountable for their decision,” he said.
Beirne said there isn’t a lot of recourse that the board can take against Michael.
“What we can do on a county level is call it out,” he said. “We can be transparent about it and say this is costing us this much money in terms of the budget overruns.”
In the early September interview, Beirne said he would like Michael to return to Finance committee meetings to face questions.
County Auditor Michelle Anderson is also under scrutiny, but from her own party. In August, the McLean County GOP called for Anderson to resign, saying her office is responsible for a wide range of problems linked to county finances, like delayed grants and bill payments.
Anderson’s position is not up for re-election until 2028.
Steinkoenig said he agrees with his party’s call.
“I’m joining them because I want accountability,” he said. “I don’t know her well, I’m obviously not on the board right now… but I have heard stories that maybe the job isn’t being done as well as it should.”
As both of those positions are elected, the county board does not have the authority to remove them from office. Beirne said it’s important to calmly lay out the facts and inform voters of problems.
“It’s letting people know in a clear and concise and fact-based manner, where you don’t rely on conspiracy theories, you don’t rely on purely outrage you just lay out the facts of, 'This is what happened, this is what it’s costing us and this is what we want moving forward,'" he said.
About District 10
McLean County’s tenth district is long and narrow, and encompasses Central Illinois Regional Airport. Normal Community High School sits in the northern part of the district.
The northern border runs along Northtown Road from Airport Road to Route 29.
The western border follows Airport Road through Fort Jesse Road, then extends further west toward North Pointe Drive, before following College Avenue back east to Airport Road. The western boundary expands again at Route 9 through Hershey Road and ends at Lincoln Street.
The south follows the Constitution Trail from Hershey Road and Lincoln Street, before jutting south through Gaelic Park. The district generally follows Cave Creek Road before diving south again to meet Route 28 as it borders the airport.
The eastern border generally follows Route 29, but expands to encompass a neighborhood around Eagle View Park and cedes some territory to the second district between Pamela Drive and Route 9.
