Garcia wins DuPage County Clerk race over Kladis-Schiappa

Democrat Paula Deacon Garcia won the race for DuPage County Clerk with 181,786 votes, or 63.1%, to Republican Patricia Kladis-Schiappa's 106,447 votes, or 36.9%, according to unofficial results from DuPage County Clerk.

All 600 of 600 reporting units have reported, with 288,233 votes counted as of 9:36 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Garcia won by 75,339 votes, a margin of 26.2 percentage points.

The seat is open. Current DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek lost the 2026 primary election, according to Shaw Local News Network.

What was at stake

The DuPage County Clerk administers all county elections, manages voter registration, coordinates polling places, oversees ballot printing and reports election results.

The office also issues birth records, death records, marriage licenses and liquor licenses for unincorporated areas. It serves as clerk of the DuPage County Board and secretary of the county's 911 system board.

The key issues:

• Garcia, a DuPage County Board member, campaigned on budget transparency, stating on her campaign website that the clerk needs to be open with the budget so residents can see taxpayer dollars are spent properly.
• Kladis-Schiappa, an attorney, campaigned on her website on professionalism and integrity in the office that handles elections and vital records.
• Kaczmarek's tenure ended in conflict with the county board. An appellate court ruled in October 2026 that the county can establish accounting procedures the clerk must follow, according to the DuPage County government website.

A little history

Garcia has represented District 2 on the DuPage County Board since December 2020. She chairs the board's finance committee and is vice chair of its human services committee. She has lived in Lisle for most of her life and worked for the village of Lisle for 21 years before joining the county board.

Kladis-Schiappa is an attorney with more than 20 years of experience concentrated in workers' compensation law. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law and lives in Burr Ridge. She also served as a hearing officer for the Illinois Tollway from 2017 to 2021.

What's next

The results remain unofficial. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if received by Nov. 17. Kaczmarek's term expires Nov. 30. Illinois has no automatic recount. A candidate who received at least 95% of the leading candidate's vote total may file a discovery petition within five days of the canvass at the candidate's expense.

Election results: DuPage County Clerk (Illinois General Election, 2026-11-03)

Source: DuPage County Clerk. Results current as of Nov. 3, 2026, 9:36 p.m. CST. Reporting: 600 of 600. Unofficial results; every reporting unit has reported.