A Democratic candidate for Will County Board’s District 11, which covers the Bolingbrook area, was removed from the primary ballot but is appealing the Electoral Board’s decision.
Other County Board candidates who filed to run in the March 17 primary election had their petitions challenged, but were ordered to remain on the ballot.
One Democratic candidate for Will County’s District 4, which covers the Homer Glen and Mokena areas, still has a case pending before the Electoral Board.
The Electoral Board held several hearings this month to determine who is eligible to run in the primary. Hearings are expected to continue next week to determine whose names will ultimately be printed on primary ballots.
Because the Will County board operates on staggered terms, eight out of the 11 districts are up for election next year. Each district has two representatives, and control of the board, which has been evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, is at stake.
District 11
In the 11th District, Barbara Ann Parker, the DuPage Township clerk, and Tyler Giacalone, the founder and president of Young Democrats of Will County, objected to one another’s candidacy petitions.
Parker alleged Giacalone did not live in the district for at least a year before the primary and was ineligible to appear on the Democratic primary ballot.
During the hearing, it was shown that Giacalone moved to the district in June and had not lived in the district for a year, but was a legal voter, according to the Will County clerk’s office. He was ordered removed from the primary ballot in a 2-1 decision by the Electoral Board, documents show.
Giacalone is appealing the decision, saying that he should be included because he would live within the 11th District one year before the general election in November.
Will County Judge Ben Braun is expected to set a hearing date on his appeal next week. Giacalone’s attorney Burt Odelson is looking for an expedited hearing so that ballots can be printed.
Giacalone said he wants to prepare Will County for its long-term future needs and address the budget, housing, transportation, infrastructure and safety.
Giacalone said he believed that Parker’s petitions were invalid because she did not list the district number she was seeking, which created confusion, according to the Will County clerk’s office.
The office Parker sought was identified on her statement of candidacy and on most of the petition pages, the Electoral Board ruled, and did not create confusion. The petitions as a whole “were in substantial compliance with the Election Code,” and she will appear on the ballot, the board ruled.
The Democratic primary for District 11 also includes incumbent Jacqueline Traynere, a County Board member since 2008, and Sheldon Watts, a past candidate for Bolingbrook mayor.
The top two vote-getters in March will face Republican Steven Smith in November for two, two-year terms.
District 11 incumbent Elnalyn Costa, a Bolingbrook Democrat, is the only Will County board member not to seek reelection.
District 2
In District 2, which covers eastern Will County, candidate Neil “Muggsy” Gallagher survived several objectors and will appear on the Republican primary ballot against incumbents Judy Ogalla, of Monee, and Frankie Pretzel, of New Lenox.
The 17 objectors all claimed Gallagher was not a Republican and agreed to have their objections consolidated into one case.
The objectors presented evidence of the candidate’s voting history, which showed that he voted as a Democrat as recently as 2024, but that election cycle has since been completed, documents filed with the county clerk’s office said. Gallagher did not vote in 2025, documents show.
Party-switching is addressed by case law and is allowed when it occurs after a completed election cycle, documents said.
“I have had life-long conservative and Republican values,” Gallagher, of Manhattan Township, said. “These objectors, who have never met me, don’t change that. I’m not the kind of guy who needs my name all over the place, but all the things I do for my community are much more important.”
He said he voted in a Democratic primary to select the most moderate candidate in 2024 and has pulled both types of ballots. He said he votes for the “person, not the party,” but has conservative roots and beliefs based on his agricultural and farming upbringing.
Gallagher said he is challenging the incumbents because he is concerned with growing truck traffic and thousands of acres of prime farmland taken out of production by commercial solar facilities and warehouses.
Gallagher is a member of the Manhattan Irish Fest executive committee, a member of the Providence High School Men’s Club, a supporter of the Will County Farm Bureau and was involved with the Will Cook Soil and Water Board.
The top two vote-getters in the Republican primary will face Democrat Bob Howard in November for two, two-year terms.
District 4
In District 4, Democratic candidate Sheri Boniecki-Cooling, a member of the Homer Township Democratic Organization, Illinois Democratic Women of Will County and Homer Township Open Space committee, challenged the signatures and petitions for William Pratt, a retired union electrician, and Kevin Koukol, a past candidate for Homer Glen trustee.
At a hearing Tuesday, the Electoral Board determined Pratt had enough signatures to remain on the ballot.
In a recent social media post, Pratt said he has been a member of the Democrat Party since 1976 but is concerned the party veered to the fringe left. He urged Democrats to return “back to the center” and be the “common sense party.”
A hearing held Tuesday on Boniecki-Cooling’s challenge to Koukol’s candidacy was continued to Dec. 3.
Koukol incorrectly indicated on his petition papers that he was running for a seat in District 6 and not District 4, Boniecki-Cooling’s attorney Christopher Abbasi said.
The County Board seat for District 6, which is the Joliet area, is not up for election in 2026.
The error was noted by the clerk’s office, and Mark Gawron, a representative who turned in the papers on behalf of Koukol, changed the district number.
“It’s never appropriate to alter a notarized document because it compromises the integrity of that document,” Boniecki-Cooling said.
The Electoral Board said it could not make a decision on the case until it receives more information on whether a notarized document could be changed. The hearing was continued.
The top two vote-getters in the Democratic primary will face the top two vote-getters in the Republican primary for two four-year terms.
In the Republican primary, incumbents Steve Balich, of Homer Glen, and James Richmond, of Mokena, are seeking reelection and are being challenged by Michael Lepore, a Homer Glen trustee, and Pawel Tyrala, a part-time farmer, businessman and entrepreneur of Homer Township.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.