When Stephenson County goes to the polls in November, there’s a chance that not a single voter will be able to choose between two county board candidates. That’s because each of the 11 seats up for grabs across the county are currently being contested by just one candidate.
As of Tuesday, August 25th, no one had filed to run as a write-in; if that holds through September 3rd, the deadline to apply for write-in status, then the current group of candidates are all essentially guaranteed a seat on the county board.
Not a single candidate on the ballot would need to compete with another person for their board seat.
Unlike running as a named candidate, no petition signatures are required to run as a write-in. Anyone interested in becoming a write-in candidate must simply complete and notarize a Declaration of Intent to run by September 3rd.
Any questions about becoming a write-in candidate should be directed to the County Clerk’s office at (815)235-8289.
The Voice of Freeport is committed to make sure progressive candidates understand how to run for office in the future. This is crucial to make sure that we capture every opportunity possible to compete for opportunities to represent progressive values in our community.
Who’s running this November?
The candidates who will appear on the ballot this November are:
Ronnie Bush (D-Freeport) *
Rebecca Quiggle (R-Freeport) *
Charles Hilton (D-Freeport) *
Bill Hadley (R-Freeport) *
Ed Schau (R-Freeport)
Rebecca Oblak (R-Freeport)
Larry Jogerst (R-Northwest Stephenson County)
Scott Helms (R-Cedarville) *
Steven Fricke (R-German Valley / Baileyville) *
Mark Diddens (R-Eleroy) *
Garrett W. Miller (R-Eastern Stephenson County)
* indicates that they are a current board member
4 of the candidates are new and 7 are running to be re-elected to their current seat.
