A Will County Electoral Board ruled 2-1 Wednesday that Homer Glen resident Kevin Koukol cannot appear on the ballot for County Board District 4 after he incorrectly listed the wrong district on his statement of candidacy. He is considering appealing that decision.
A Will County judge ruled Friday Bolingbrook candidate Tyler Giacalone should be reinstated to the ballot for County Board District 11 after an Electoral Board removed him last month.
Eight out of the 11 County Board districts, with two representatives each, are up for election next year. Challenges have been heard during the last month to see which names will appear on the primary ballots for a chance to run in November.
District 4
Three people filed to run in the March 17 Democratic primary for District 4, which includes Homer Glen, Mokena and portions of Lockport, New Lenox, Tinley Park and Orland Park. Voters select two candidates from the Republican and Democratic primaries who will vie for two seats in the November election.
Candidate Sheri Boniecki-Cooling challenged the petitions for Koukol and William Pratt. After a hearing last month, Pratt was found to have enough eligible signatures to appear on the primary ballot.
But the Electoral Board, made up of Will County Treasurer Tim Brophy, Circuit Court Clerk Andrea Lynn Chasteen and Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Pyles, ruled that Koukol writing on his candidacy papers that he was running for District 6 instead of District 4 was enough of an error to be removed from the ballot.
The Will County clerk’s office notified Mark Garwon, a former Homer Township trustee who was turning in the petition papers on Koukol’s behalf, that Koukol wrote the wrong district on the papers. The papers had been notarized, and Garwon crossed off the 6 and wrote the correct district, 4, on the papers before submitting them.
Pyles said this goes “beyond a minor error” and candidates or their agents cannot change information at the clerk’s office counter. He said he was bothered by the fact that someone other than the candidate altered the papers.
Chasteen said there was no indication Koukol was told about the corrections before they were made, and there was time for Koukol to make the proper corrections, get them notarized and turn in the petition papers the correct way.
Brophy was the only dissenter, saying he was thinking about the voters who signed the petition papers for Koukol.
Koukol’s attorney Robert Windon said he disagreed with the Electoral Board’s decision and believed the law was misapplied. Windon said the clerk’s office knew what office Koukol was seeking and there was no voter confusion.
Koukol ran for Homer Glen trustee last spring.
Koukol said he plans to appeal the decision because he said he believes the petitions contained a minor error.
He has been adamantly against the Will County transportation department’s plans to widen 143rd Street and wants to look into other county projects including roadwork and business, liquor and gaming licenses.
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Boniecki-Cooling, a member of the Homer Township Democratic Organization, Illinois Democratic Women of Will County and Homer Township Open Space committee, said handling notarized documents properly is a serious issue.
“It’s reassuring to see that clear irregularities weren’t overlooked and that integrity in the process still matters,” she said.
Boniecki-Cooling, who ran for the board seat four years ago, said she is a community advocate and not a career politician. She said she is running for smart growth and infrastructure improvements, environmental sustainability, open space preservation, fiscal transparency and responsible budgeting.
“I’ve always believed in showing up, speaking out and doing the work to make things better right here in Will County,” she said.
The District 4 seat is now held by Republicans Steve Balich, of Homer Glen, and Jim Richmond, of Mokena, who are seeking reelection.
Gawron was part of the administration when Balich was Homer Township supervisor, and Balich notarized his letter to the Electoral Board explaining the error.
Balich and Richmond are challenged in the Republican primary by Homer Glen Trustee Michael Lepore and Pawel J. Tyrala, a part-time farmer and businessman.
District 11
Will County Judge Ben Braun ruled Friday an Electoral Board erred when it removed Giacalone from the Democratic primary ballot for District 11, which covers the Bolingbrook area, and ordered his name be printed.
District 11 candidate Barbara Ann Parker, the DuPage Township clerk, challenged the petitions for Giacalone, the founder and president of Young Democrats of Will County, saying that he did not live in the district for at least a year before the primary and was ineligible to appear on the ballot.
The Electoral Board last month agreed with Parker and voted 2-1 to remove Giacalone from ballot.
Giacalone’s attorney Burt Odelson said Friday everyone is in agreement the candidate moved to the district in June, so he will have lived there for more than a year before the Nov. 3 General Election.
Odelson argued the primary is where candidates are nominated to run in the November election, when they are actually chosen to their positions. The suggestion that election means primary election is an attempt to add language to the Counties Code and the Election Code, he said.
“Ballot access is always favored,” Odelson said.
Joel Brown, Parker’s attorney, argued the statement of candidacy is written in the present tense and the candidate swears he is in compliance with the office sought.
He said after the hearing he would have to talk with Parker to see if she wanted to appeal the decision to the Appellate Court.
Brown said it is the responsibility of the state legislature to update any election law language to make it clearer.
Giacalone, 28, said he is running to be the voice of the next generation and is enthused by the number of younger candidates, such as Lockport Township Supervisor Alex Zapien, who are seeking a County Board seat.
He said the County Board needs new leadership, citing the recent battles over the 2026 budget.
The Democratic primary for District 11 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.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.