Three incumbents seeking reelection as Will County clerk, regional superintendent of schools and treasurer each face a challenger in the general election.
For clerk, voters will choose between Republican incumbent Annette Parker and Democratic challenger Michelle Stiff.
Voters will also choose between Republican incumbent Elizabeth Caparelli-Ruff and Democratic challenger Theresa Rouse for regional superintendent of schools, and between Democratic incumbent Tim Brophy and Republican challenger Carmen Maurella for treasurer.
Clerk
Parker, 56, of Crest Hill, said she would like to continue the momentum from when she was elected clerk in a 2024 special election after the previous clerk resigned. In that election, Parker captured 50.2% of the vote while Stiff received 49.8%.
The Will County clerk oversees elections, maintains vital records such as birth, death and marriage certificates, and works with the treasurer and auditor on the levies that make up residents’ property tax bills.
Parker said her experience as well as 10 years as a Will County Board member and past president of the Forest Preserve District of Will County board gave her a vast knowledge of the office, county government and budgets.
“Being county clerk is not about politics, it’s about doing the job right,” Parker said.
Stiff, 59, of Joliet, is the director of the Workforce Services Division of Will County where she oversees a $7 million budget. She was elected to the Joliet Township High School District 204 board in 2019 and was the board’s president.
“Government should be accessible, transparent, accountable and consistent when serving people,” Stiff said.
Parker said she’s made strides in the last two years modernizing the clerk’s office by expanding electronic payments such as Apple Pay, launching a new platform to order vital records online, lowering fees and digitizing records to reduce the paper used.
The office also secured nearly $108,000 in grants from the Illinois State Board of Elections to enhance election accessibility and security, Parker said.
The clerk’s office has participated in 100 community events throughout the year, Parker said, to recruit election judges and inform residents about the clerk’s services. Representatives also attended bridal expos to talk to couples about obtaining a marriage license, Parker said. The student ambassador program has encouraged about 170 young adults to become election judges, many who are first-time voters, Parker said.
Stiff said county residents still have barriers accessing their vital records, such as lack of transportation, technology and financial struggles, and she would like to help residents overcome those. She said “outside the box” methods successful at the Workforce Services Division, which connects people with employment, could also be used to help individuals register to vote or get the records they need to obtain a driver’s license.
Stiff said she wants to increase civic engagement and voter participation. She said she would form an advisory group to meet quarterly to discuss gaps in voter access, such as language barriers, disabilities or seniors who don’t have transportation. She said she wants to get more young adults involved. If polling places are at high schools, it would encourage eligible students and staff to vote, Stiff said.
Parker said she participates in weekly meetings with the Illinois State Board of Elections and attorney general’s office on updates to pending election-related lawsuits or changes in election guidelines.
The clerk’s office added security cameras to the area where ballots are kept, Parker said. Identification is checked and badges provided for vendors, technicians and individuals who frequently enter the clerk’s office during election season as an added security measure, Parker said. The office has updated election judge’s training manuals with more information about signature verification.
Parker said she would like to phase in more vote centers on Election Day, where voters can vote nearer their work or wherever is convenient for them. Vote centers were used in the Homer Township primary in February 2025, Parker said. Vote centers could save money, but they should be phased in because more voter education is needed, she said.
Stiff said she would like it to be easier for residents to secure a ballot through an affidavit. As an example, she said an individual in a hospital might have a mail-in ballot discarded if the signatures did not match. Stiff said she believes they should have an easier time proving they cast that ballot.
Stiff said she would like to look at the early voting locations and drop boxes so they are spread out throughout the county and easily accessible. She said eastern portions of Will County are lacking options, and Joliet, where the county seat is located, is far from residents living near the Indiana line.
Regional superintendent of schools
The Will County Regional Office of Education provides fingerprint and criminal background checks for nearly all the school districts in the county. The office is responsible for ensuring teachers and paraprofessionals have their licenses, and it offers bus driver training.
The office oversees school construction projects and manages Lincoln School, an alternative school for middle and high school students who have had discipline issues that have resulted in multiple suspensions and expulsions. There are about 170 schools in the regional office’s purview.
Caparelli-Ruff, 56, of Homer Glen, has a doctorate degree in educational leadership and has served in a variety of roles, including a special education teacher, dean, principal and director of special education. She is seeking a second four-year term.
Rouse, 64, of Joliet, has a doctorate degree in educational leadership, has been the superintendent of Joliet Public School District 86 for the last 11 years and has a 34-year career in education from teacher to superintendent. She served in similar roles as the regional superintendent in both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in California, where she oversaw multiple school districts, she said.
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Caparelli-Ruff said her office helped support the Frankfort area after two recent tragedies involving children. The office sent social workers and therapy dogs to schools to counsel children and staff after a child was struck and killed by a bus and after a Frankfort mother killed her son.
Caparelli-Ruff said the office created reunification plans and worked with school districts, resource officers, chiefs of police and the sheriff’s office on active shooter drills to improve security measures. Using grant funds allocated to the office from the Will County Board, several schools were provided with a Clear-Armor bullet-resistant protective laminate for entrances, Caparelli-Ruff said. Other schools used the grant funds to improve visitor and attendance management systems, she said.
During her tenure, several improvements were made to Lincoln School, Caparelli-Ruff said. She said students used to have to walk down three flights of stairs to reach a bathroom in the 120-year-old school, so a second-floor bathroom was built. A commercial kitchen was added and the school offered a hands-on cooking demonstration. A teacher’s lounge was renovated, the building was painted, floors replaced and a security camera system installed.
“We’ve had the greatest amount of graduations in the last two years,” Caparelli-Ruff said. “I did not want a pipeline to prison, and that’s what the students were treated like before, unfortunately. … They should know they are students. They come to school to learn and they should be given a chance.”
Caparelli-Ruff said the office has also made improvements to the truancy court system to help children continue their education and work toward a better future.
Rouse said as a superintendent of the fourth largest elementary school district in Illinois, the district isn’t getting the service, support and advocacy it needs from the regional office.
Rouse said she wants to help support superintendents and set up a 24-hour response line, so district officials receive a timely response. She said she wants to make herself available around-the-clock to superintendents. She said more resources could be provided for smaller school districts so that all students have the same resources no matter their ZIP code.
Rouse said Lincoln School does a great job, but it is centrally located in Joliet, making it hard for a student in Crete to attend. Expanding alternative education options is one avenue to pursue, she said.
Rouse said District 86 has celebrated a steady growth in achievement. The district passed a referendum in 2023 to build and open two new junior high schools to replace two aging schools. The referendum also supported an addition to an elementary school with more classrooms and a gym that will be completed this school year.
Rouse said she would be an advocate for public education at the state and federal level.
“I really believe we need a strong presence to speak on our behalf to make certain the mandates that are coming from the state and federal level are ones we can actually work with and accomplish without extra struggles,” Rouse said.
Rouse said she is monitoring the U.S. Department of Education and believes “public education is under attack from the federal government.”
“I think there is a lot of advocacy that is going to have to be in play for the next four years,” Rouse said.
Treasurer
The treasurer’s office prepares and mails property tax bills, collects payment and distributes the funds to more than 250 taxing bodies across Will County. The office also invests money as the county’s banker.
Brophy, 63, of Joliet, is seeking his third term as treasurer. Brophy said his background in business administration, finance, banking and as a licensed real estate managing broker has been an asset.
Maurella, 51, of Homer Glen, is the Homer Township assessor, a certified Illinois assessing officer, an accountant who owns his own tax practice and teaches tax and accounting courses at Lewis University.
Brophy said he’s made both large and small improvements to the office.
Brophy said he invested the $134 million the county received in federal pandemic relief grant funding, and he immediately invests property tax payments when they are received resulting in millions of dollars in interest earnings.
The county receives about $2.5 billion in property tax revenue with $1.4 billion coming in May and the rest coming in through the summer.
“We put that right to work,” Brophy said.
Brophy said he helped improve efficiencies in the office by offering digital payments for election judges, saving about $35,000 in postage in the 3 1/2 years since the program was implemented and reducing auditing problems. He is working to implement a similar electronic payment method for jurors. He is also working to negotiate reduced credit card fees.
Residents who need a copy of their property tax bill are no longer charged for this service, Brophy said. He said his office has reduced the number of employees from when he started by one, and he hasn’t purchased furniture as another way to be mindful of his budget.
Maurella said as Homer Township assessor he helped modernize the office, digitize records, open communication with residents about their property tax bills and sets a goal to be 10% under budget.
“I always enjoy talking with residents and engaging with them so they know what the property tax is all about,” Maurella said.
He said he wants to look for more efficiencies in the treasurer’s office and listen to employees to understand their needs better. He also wants to modernize customer service with an app or mobile-friendly website so that residents can track their property tax bill and understand how the office is managing revenue.
Maurella said he ran on preventing equity theft so that property owners don’t lose their equity if they lose their home due to back taxes, which happened to a family friend.
The treasurer’s office will have to comply with new legislation regarding equity theft passed earlier this year in Springfield
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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