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DuPage County, Illinois
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=== Local politics === Republicans historically controlled local politics in DuPage County from the nineteenth century until modern times. During the twentieth century, Democrats only held countywide office twice. In 1934 William Robinson was elected Circuit Clerk and Arthur Hellyer was elected Treasurer. That year also saw the first ever Democratic majority county board and only such majority that century.<ref>{{cite news|title=Democrats Hold Jubilee as New Officials Go In|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 4, 1934|id={{ProQuest|181618400}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37232613/|title=Democrats Win Two DuPage Offices|newspaper=[[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois)|Daily Herald]]|page=15|date=November 9, 1934|access-date=April 17, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419002658/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37232613/|archive-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> Robinson and Hellyer each served one term; Robinson lost his bid for a full term in 1936 and Hellyer left the Treasurer's office to make a failed bid for probate judge in 1938.<ref>{{cite news|title=G.O.P. Banners Wave Over Five Nearby Counties: Democratic Office Holders Ousted by Voters|date=November 9, 1938|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> In 2018, as part of a larger suburban realignment, Democratic candidate Jean Kaczmarek won the election for County Clerk and Daniel Hebreard won the President of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.<ref name="Blue Wave 2018"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=The Democrats' vote-by-mail juggernaut|date=November 20, 2018|newspaper=[[Capitol Fax]]|access-date=November 21, 2018|url=https://capitolfax.com/2018/11/20/the-democrats-vote-by-mail-juggernaut/}}</ref><ref>The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a countywide special district coterminous with DuPage County, Illinois</ref> During that same period Democrats were sporadically elected to the county board and township government. In 1972, Don Carroll was elected to the County Board. In the Democratic wave of 1974, Jane Spirgel, Mary Eleanor Wall, and Elaine Libovicz were elected. All four were from the northeastern portion of DuPage, which at that time was the most Democratic region of the county.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sherlock|first1=Barbara|last2=Shallwani|first2=Pervaiz|title=DuPage Democrats hope board exile short-lived|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=November 8, 2002|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> Eventually, Republicans regained all seats on the board when Jane Spirgel ran for [[Illinois Secretary of State]] with [[Adlai Stevenson III]] under the [[Illinois Solidarity Party|Solidarity Party]] banner.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schmeltzer|first=John|title=Spirgel one of a kind in Du Page|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 6, 1986|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> In 2000, Linda J. Bourke Hilbert was elected. Like her 1970s counterparts, she was from the northeastern portion of the county.<ref>{{cite news|last=Trebe|first=Patricia|title=Linda J. Bourke Hilbert, 63; DuPage County Board's 1st Democrat since '80s|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 6, 1986|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> During the 2008 Democratic wave, three Democrats were elected to the board.<ref>{{cite news|last=Napolitano|first=Jo|title=Democrats gaining a foothold|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]|date=November 5, 2008}}</ref> After the initial Obama wave, Republicans reasserted themselves on the board and by 2017 Democrats held only one of the eighteen board seats. In the 2018 general election, Democrats won seven seats as well as the offices of County Clerk and Forest Preserve District President.<ref name="Blue Wave 2018">{{cite news|last=Rakow|first=Bob|title=Blue Wave hits DuPage County|date=November 14, 2018|newspaper=My Suburban Life|access-date=November 21, 2018|url=https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2018/11/13/blue-wave-hits-dupage-county/a58dpra/}}</ref> In 1973, a slate of Democrats took eight of nine offices in [[Addison Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Addison Township]]. This feat would not be replicated until 2017 when Democratic candidates won a majority of offices in [[Naperville Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Naperville]] and [[Lisle Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Lisle]] townships.<ref>{{cite web|last=Erin|first=Hegarty|title=Dems unseat several incumbents in Naperville, Lisle township races|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]|date=April 5, 2017|access-date=April 17, 2017|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-naperville-lisle-township-democrats-election-st-0407-20170405-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416130331/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-naperville-lisle-township-democrats-election-st-0407-20170405-story.html|archive-date=April 16, 2017}}</ref> Between these two victories, Democrats only held two township offices. Mark Starkovich served as [[York Township, DuPage County, Illinois|York Township Supervisor]] from 1989 to 1993 and Martin McManamon has served as [[Wayne Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Wayne Township Highway Commissioner]] since 2013.<ref>{{cite news|last=Young|first=Linda|title=Democrats lose toehold and confidence in future|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=April 22, 1993|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> In 2020, Democrats won control of the DuPage County Board, expanding on their 2018 lead.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Horstead |first1=Megann |title=DuPage County Board Democrats ride blue wave in election |url=https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2020/11/11/dupage-county-board-democrats-ride-blue-wave-in-election/a9q08ay/ |access-date=January 19, 2022 |work=MySuburbanLife.com |date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113042444/https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2020/11/11/dupage-county-board-democrats-ride-blue-wave-in-election/a9q08ay/ |archive-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref> In 2022, Democrats expanded their majority in the County Board to 11 seats out of 18.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Democrats Poised To Hold DuPage County Board |url=https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/democrats-poised-hold-dupage-county-board |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=Elmhurst, IL Patch |language=en}}</ref> Concurrently, Democrat [[Deb Conroy]] was elected as the chairman of the County Board.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2022 |title=Illinois State Rep. Deb Conroy makes history as 1st woman elected DuPage County Board chairman |url=https://abc7chicago.com/deb-conroy-dupage-county-board-greg-hart/12435304/ |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}</ref>
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