For the first time in 44 years, a Democrat will hold countywide elected office in McLean County.
Democrat Joshua Crockett defeated incumbent Republican Kathy Michael on Tuesday as she sought a fifth term as McLean County clerk.
With all but a handful of precincts left to count, McLean County Democratic Party Chair Patrick Cortesi declared victory at around 9:30 p.m. with Crockett ultimately edging out Michael by a 12-point margin. Crockett was leading with 56% of the vote with 100% of precincts reporting unofficial results.
Michael faced criticism over property tax collection errors in her office, and for going over budget multiple years in a row.
The Village of Hudson, the Octavia Park District, the Ridgeview and Olympia school districts and the Ellsworth Fire Protection District all had tax errors in recent years. Those errors were spread across 2024, 2025 and 2026. Many of those errors were corrected and adjusted in following years but momentarily created some chaos for those budgets.
Michael’s office also went over budget by about $95,000 in 2023, $386,000 in 2024 and $400,000 in 2025.
Michael said her experience across four terms was why she deserved a fifth, saying she’s only had five tax errors across 16 years. As for the budget overruns, she said in a WGLT forum that many of her office’s expenses are state-mandated purchases.
Prior to becoming clerk, Michael worked for former state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
'Declare that McLean County is blue'
Crockett did not run as a candidate in the Democratic primary. Rather, he was slated later by the party. He works in constituent services for state Sen. Dave Koehler, and has served on the Heartland Community College Board of Trustees since 2021.
"The reason Democrats are doing so well in McLean County and across the nation is because we have quality candidates," Koehler said during remarks at a Democratic watch party in Bloomington. "So if anyone has any doubt left in their mind, they can now officially declare that McLean County is blue."
Though the race remained largely cordial, Crockett repeatedly pointed to Michael’s recent errors as reasons he believed voters should elect him.
"I do want to recognize and thank the clerk for her years of service," Crockett told supporters in his acceptance speech. "We began this campaign days after I was slated talking about the importance of civility in our politics and how we were going to be kind to one another."
For decades it has been difficult for Democrats to win a countywide elected office. The last such victory was in 1982 when Steve Brienen won reelection for sheriff. Brienen later changed his party affiliation to Republican and won four more terms.
McLean County Democrats have offered up challengers before. Michael defeated a challenge by political newcomer Laura McBurney with 60% of the vote in 2022.
She also won against Democrat Nikita Richards during a contentious 2018 campaign. Michael won with 56% of the total vote. Michael had a margin of nearly 8,000 votes out of the 67,016 votes cast in the race.
Crockett thanked his team, family, volunteers and voters for their support, giving a special shoutout to students who campaigned for him. Crockett previously worked with the Illinois State University Center for Civic Engagement.
"I hope you know you made a difference in this community," he said.
'Hard to battle that kind of financial boost'
In a phone call, McLean County Republican Party Chair Connie Beard expressed disappointment about Michael's loss. She said the race serves as an example of how difficult it is to battle the cash advantage Democrats had this election cycle.
Gov. JB Pritzker gave $75,000 to the county Democrats and an additional $10,000 to Crockett's campaign.
“More money was spent in the elections by JB Pritzker than any other Democratic candidate in the country,” she said. “So, it is hard to battle that kind of financial boost.”
Beard pointed out campaign workers, signs, mailers and the like all cost a lot of money. She reiterated as she did to WGLT in late October that the county Republicans don’t have that kind of cash.
“And we represent working families. We don’t have billionaires in our back pocket that could come up with a lump sum of money to help us battle that kind of financial aid that was given to the local Democrat Party,” she said.
Beard said the influx of cash was done on the part of the governor to brag about his influence in Central Illinois.
“It’s going to be up to the voters as time moves on to see what the results are going to be from the kind of leadership that has been put into place,” Beard said. “I can only pray that eyes will be opened and that hearts will be willing to consider what the other options are available as we come around to another election cycle in a couple years.”
The county clerk oversees the office that holds vital records, calculates tax bills, issues licenses and permits and administers local elections. [Bloomington has a separate election commission for voters registered within city limits.]
Kathy Michael was not available for comment on Tuesday night. In a social media post, she congratulated Crockett.
"Wishing you all the best as you begin working for this wonderful McLean County," she said.
