Patty Schiappa, a Republican candidate for DuPage County Clerk joined Dan Proft, ahead of a DuPage County GOP candidate meet-and-greet scheduled for Thursday, September 17 at Harry Caray’s in Lombard. Schiappa said the event will bring together the party’s full slate of countywide candidates, including Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso, who is running for DuPage County Board Chairman, Sean Noonan for DuPage County Sheriff, incumbent Treasurer Gwen Henry, Regional Superintendent of Schools Amber Quirk, and Forest Preserve District President candidate Carl Schultz, alongside Schiappa’s own campaign for county clerk.
Schiappa said Republicans need to reclaim countywide offices they lost after Democrats gained control of DuPage County government beginning around 2018, arguing that shift has led to what she characterized as fiscal mismanagement in the clerk’s office, including a recent dispute over whether the office would have sufficient funding to properly administer the upcoming midterm election that required the county board to approve additional money for postage and printing. She praised outgoing Sheriff James Mendrich’s leadership on public safety while arguing other countywide offices need new leadership. Proft added that DuPage’s state legislative delegation, including state lawmakers he named such as Anna Stava-Murray, reflects the same political shift he attributes to the county as a whole.
Schiappa said one of the biggest challenges her campaign faces is voter complacency, describing conversations with residents who assume DuPage County remains reliably Republican and are unaware of the shift in local political control, and said many voters remain focused on national politics at the expense of county-level races that she argued have more direct impact on daily governance. She urged listeners to attend the September 17 event and noted that early voting in Illinois begins September 24, encouraging DuPage County residents to get involved ahead of the midterms.